A deal was signed between Salobreña Town Hall and the private company, Fercasa, for the modernising of public street lighting making it more energy efficient.

The arrangement will not only see the streetlights in Salobreña getting an overhaul, but also the ones in Lobres and La Caleta.

Although the work will cost around a million euros, it will knock off about 30% of the public electricity bill, meaning that the financial outlay will be recuperated within four to five years..

However, it hasn’t all been plain sailing because one of the companies that presented a bid lodged an appeal which held things up. Furthermore, before the contract could be awarded a complete audit of the actual energy efficiency of the entire municipality had to be carried out.

The Town Hall was able to find the shekels thanks to two grants; one from the Instituto para la Diversificación y Ahorro de la Energía (IDEA) and one from the Comité Español de Iluminación. These two grants covered 60% of the total budget so that the Town Hall only had to find 40% of it.

Finally, the work, which should be completed by November, consists of replacing existing bulbs for LED lighting in some cases, and installing completely new lampposts in others.

(News: Salobrena, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)