Wallonia’s motorway lighting has been modernised with the added help of private sector funding and expertise.
The old lamps have been replaced with more than 100,000 bulbs using LED technology, Le Soir reports, for a total cost of €600 million spread out over 20 years through a public-private partnership.
In addition to being brighter than the older bulbs, the new lights are more economical, expected to bring significant savings.
“Some 2,700 kilometres of motorways and national roads will benefit from this in-depth refurbishment of their lighting,” said Sofico, the Walloon company for the complementary financing of infrastructure, which was created in 1994 to complete and/or modernise the Walloon transport networks.
“The renewal of this lighting, based on LED technology, will result in energy savings of 76% at the end of the contract.”
First public-private partnership of its kind in Wallonia
“While this project is a technological innovation, it is also a new formula for Sofico, since it is the first time that a public-private partnership (note: PPP) has been concluded,” said Michaël Almer, general manager.
“This choice was made because it offers many advantages: first of all, a PPP ensures cost control at all stages of the project.”
A second advantage, according to Almer, is that “this type of partnership allows a transfer of responsibilities while benefiting from the technology and innovation of the private sector. The partner must assume an obligation of result.”
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The third advantage is that the budget for lighting costs stays the same as it always has been, even though it’s a significant upgrade to lighting infrastructure, rather than a continuation of the existing service.
“In reality, it is much more than a simple renewal,” said Bertrand Vanden Abeele, managing director of LuWa, the PPP partner that won the contract.
“The contract is of the DBFM type (note: Design, Build, Finance and Maintain), which means that we take charge of the project's design, construction, financing and maintenance for the entire duration of the contract.”
