Streets in Tamil Nadu are set to glow with LED luminaires as part of a sustainable development programme

Over 10 urban local bodies, including Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Tuticorin, Erode, Salem, Tirupur, Vellore, Madurai and Tirunelveli, will replace around 2 lakh 40W fluorescent tube lights with LED luminaires.

Through the initiative of the local bodies, there will be annual energy savings of around 26,280 MWh, amounting to €17 million (about Rs 144 crore) in 10 years, said an official of Belgian firm Schreder, which supplies LED luminaries.

Tamil Nadu’s Commissionerate of Municipal Administration is conducting an investment grade audit for existing energy systems in municipal street lighting.

This will be followed by installation, commissioning, operations and maintenance of energy-efficient lamps and luminaires. Schreder, as part of a consortium, has bagged a letter of intent for audit for the Coimbatore, Tuticorin and Thanjavur regions (for 78,500 LED luminaries), the official said.

The company has a production facility at Faridabad. The Brika and Skido brand luminaries have been co-developed by the group’s R&D centre along with the Indian engineering team to address the lighting needs of the Indian market, he said recently on the sidelines of a seminar.

The Chennai Corporation too plans to replace nearly 1.10 lakh high-intensity discharge luminaires with LED luminaires.

Around 60,000 have already been replaced. This will result in potential annual energy saving of around 13,800 MWh and savings of around €9 million in 10 years, said a Corporation official.

Schreder will supply nearly 13,300 Brika LED luminaries, the company official said. By using LED luminaries and smart control systems, there could be up to 85 per cent energy savings when compared with installations equipped with traditional light sources.

The Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency will harness renewable energy for lighting applications in areas without grid power.

It plans to install nearly 1 lakh LED street lights through solar power in 1,000 village panchayats over five years.

This project will cost nearly €5.8 million.

For 20,000 street lights, the annual energy savings will be around 2,800 MWh, the official said. 

courtesy: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/tn-to-light-up-streets-with-led/article5490189.ece

New development rules for urban areas in TN

The Tamil Nadu government has approved uniform guidelines or Development Control Regulations relating to special buildings, multi-storeyed buildings, group developments, layouts and sub-divisions.

Modernisation of power lines at Meenakshi temple

A major modernisation of the electrical lines and power equipment at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here is under way with the objective of upgrading the decades-old existing network.

A Rs. 50 lakh-project is being implemented in a phased manner to remove the overhead cables in the temple and take them underground.

Upgrading the electrical equipment and lines would also reduce security risk, K. Rajanayagam, Joint Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department and Executive Officer of temple, told The Hindu here on Monday.

All the overhead cables that are plying in a chaotic manner between the towers and the main temple structure will be removed during the modernisation work. They would no longer be an eyesore inside the temple, he said. Further, the old equipment at the power house from where the power to the entire temple is being routed is also being replaced with ‘state-of-the-art’ ones.

The older generators would be replaced soon with two modern 125 Kilo Volt (KV) generators. In keeping with the current need of contributing positively to the climate, both the generators would be environment friendly. Mr. Rajanayagam said that the air break switch, which controls the flow of 11,000 volts to the temple, was also being replaced with a modern breaker – the Vacuum Circuit Breaker. Apart from greatly minimising the fault levels, this latest equipment is also not prone to corrosion and break-downs.

Protection schemes for six railway stations

The Government Railway Police (GRP) has drawn up railway protection schemes for six railway stations in Tamil Nadu in order to beef up security and strengthen surveillance in them, Inspector General of Police, Railways, C.V. Rao said on Friday.

The security schemes have been readied for Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tirunelveli railway junctions to tackle emergency situations in coordination with the Railway Protection Force, Mr. Rao told reporters at Tiruchi Junction after inaugurating a safety awareness campaign at the station.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/28/stor...2858930200.htm