Premier Jiang Yi-huah today approved an NT$5.49 billion (US$180 million) project to help local governments replace 692,000 mercury street lamps with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) by the end of 2016. When the project is completed, Taiwan will become the first country in the world to eliminate all mercury-vapor lamps from its streets.
According to the Executive Yuan, the plan will save Taiwan up to 640 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Local governments can also look forward to savings of NT$1.10 billion (US$36 million) in electricity bills and NT$346 million (US$11.34 million) in maintenance costs each year, which add up to NT$7.23 billion (US$237 million) over the lamps' five-year warranty period.
To develop the LED industry, Taiwan launched an LED traffic light project in 2008 and became the second country in the world to replace all traffic lights with LEDs, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun said. That same year, Taiwan also started promoting an LED street lamp pilot plan by announcing the world's first LED street lamp standards.
In 2012, the government rolled out three more LED street lamp projects nationwide as part of an effort to revive the economy. These projects will install 284,000 LED units by the end of 2014 and are expected to save 230 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and reduce carbon emission by 120,000 tonnes annually.
Since the introduction of the LED lamps, over 80 percent of the public has reported satisfaction with improved road illumination, according to a survey by the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
LED lamps have an average luminous efficacy of over 100 lumens per watt and a lifespan of over six years, both of which are three times better than mercury-vapor lamps. LED lights certainly have advantages over traditional street lamps, Sun said.
The mercury lamp removal project approved today, which will begin in 2015, will adopt a guaranteed performance and saving model (in which local governments can pay off the installations with future electricity cost savings) and use the most advantageous tender method. When the time comes, the government will also enforce regulations prohibiting the use of mercury lamps.
Once the project is fully implemented across the island by the end of 2016, the LED street lights will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 330,000 tonnes while generating production value of over NT$6 billion (US$196.72 million) for related industries.
Sun said the project shows the government's determination to advocate green policies and bolster the LED industry. Efforts to increase Taiwan's experiences in large-scale LED installations and application designs will boost Taiwan's international competitiveness in the LED field.