Street lighting: Saint-Priest's authorities choose SPIE to lead their energy transition ambitions and reduce the city's energy bills

Cergy, 14 October 2021 - SPIE CityNetworks, a French subsidiary of the SPIE group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, submitted the winning bid on the Saint-Priest authorities' public tender to drive the city's energy-efficient lighting and smart city plans.

A nine-year contract was signed between councillors and the operations team of the Infra Sud-Est Division at SPIE CityNetworks, representative of the winning consortium. The contract involves replacing 6,000 lights with solutions delivering higher energy performance and a longer service life. The agreement also includes provisions for harnessing digital technologies by integrating a private LoRa^[1] infrastructure to connect remote management modules in the seven cabinets that will be upgraded accordingly.

Energy consumption scaled down by more than 70% through SPIE CityNetworks' expertise

This contract is part of a global performance-based public tender that incorporates quantified performance objectives, such as energy efficiency or ecological impacts.

Therefore, it provides for the design, construction, operation, maintenance and management of street lighting installations and sports infrastructures.

SPIE CityNetworks will also replace 257 masts, 2 kilometres of underground networks and 1 kilometre of overhead network. Once the infrastructure has been renovated, the city's energy consumption will be 70% lower than the current level.

According to a report published by environment agency ADEME in 2017, street lighting accounts for 32% of a French city's electricity use and 31% of its electricity spend. According to estimates by the FNCCR^[2], upgrading the infrastructure will cost €10 billion. In March, the French Court of Auditors^[3] revealed that 4 million lights, i.e. 40% of the whole network, are over 25 years old. Upgrading the system represents a key focus area for local authorities, which have placed the energy transition challenge high on their list of priorities.

"We are providing the authorities with real-life and future-proof solutions for meeting their energy and economic challenges," explains Thierry Coutant, Operations Director for South-East Infrastructures at SPIE CityNetworks.

_{[1] LoRa is the name given to the radio wave modulation technology on which LoRaWAN networks are based.}

_{[2] Statement from the National Federation of Licensing and Governed Authorities}

_{[3] Report of the French Court of Auditors entitled "The need to improve management of the street lighting infrastructure: the example of local authorities in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region", page 8}