Lucy Zodion provides a Vizion CMS solution for Cornwall Council
Background
After a comprehensive evaluation of central management system manufacturers, with a view to installing a street lighting control system countywide as part of its Invest to Save programme, Cornwall County Council chose Lucy Zodion as its preferred supplier. Zodion has worked closely with Urbis Lighting (lantern manufacturers) and SSE Contracting (installation contractors) to complete the project, which began in 2009. The original project of works was completed in 2012.
Solution
Lucy Zodion’s Vizion Central Management System provided a solution that would make it possible for Cornwall County Council to control the times that its street lights were turned on and off or dimmed area by area. This would reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions whilst maintaining the current level of street lighting cover.
Due to Cornwall’s varied topography, Lucy Zodion used its 3D planning model to ensure the collector (communication hub for the system) maintained the highest level of remote communication with the nodes fitted to individual street lights, to offer an excellent level of control at all times. The 3D planning was used to identify towns and villages in which the collector may have been sited in an unsuitable position and therefore should be moved to improve the performance of the system.
Lucy Zodion has provided over 53,000 Nodes for the project, including 45W, 60W, 90W and 140W Nodes, along with all collectors and ballasts. SSE Contracting is currently installing around 1,800 Nodes per month, which are automatically added to the Central management System thanks to a link that has been created between Cornwall County Council’s software and the Vizion system.
Energy data produced by Lucy Zodion’s Vizion system and approved by Elexon is collated by Western Power Distribution. This provides accurate billing information to Cornwall County Council. It is the first time that CMS data has facilitated the production of actual energy bills in the UK. The Vizion system has also been able to provide searchable data relating to the condition of the lighting stock. This means that Cornwall County Council can identify any street lighting stock that is in need of repair and can arrange for engineer visits during the day. This will help to avoid instances of engineer visits during the hours of darkness and therefore provide a long-term cost saving.
Results
The energy saving so far for Cornwall County Council based on the 75% dim rate is 4,959MWh. This equates to ~£438,000 and represents a 28% cost saving to date. The load saving is 1,196kW and carbon emissions have been reduced by 2,683T CO2.
The contract has worked extremely well and Cornwall County Council is very happy with the product, quality service and benefits of Zodion’s Vizion CMS system.
Conclusion
The system offers a number of benefits to Cornwall County Council and the county’s individual communities. Communities are also able to have a say over how and when their streets will be lit, meaning light pollution across the county can be reduced. Over the next 25 years an estimated ~£54m will be saved compared to the cost of running the original 47,000 street lights across Cornwall. In addition, the carbon footprint will be reduced by as much as 50% depending on how communities decide to light their streets. The new lamps need less electricity to run and therefore use less energy and produce less carbon.
