Street lighting makes a vital contribution to the well-being and safety of people living in towns and cities. With this in mind, the Val de Seine Urban Area Authority (comprising Boulogne-Billancourt and Sèvres, with a total of 140,000 inhabitants) decided to embark on a complete overhaul of existing street lighting facilities on the basis of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) process. ETDE, Bouygues Construction’s electrical contracting and maintenance subsidiary, recently won the 20-year PFI contract after a competitive dialogue procedure lasting more than a year. The contract, worth a total of 92.3 million euros, is driven by a strong desire on the part of local elected representatives to “reclaim urban spaces”. It encompasses energy supplies, operation and maintenance services for 8,800 lighting points, replacement of 70% of current equipment during the first three years, and floodlighting at 51 sites across the area. The Val de Seine project – ETDE’s tenth street lighting PFI in Europe, and largest-ever street lighting contract in France – illustrates the company’s exemplary commitment to sustainable development.

Use of 100% green energy to cut CO2 emissions by 33,000 metric tons

Under the contract, ETDE will reconstruct the current street lighting network – in which much of the equipment, particularly in Boulogne-Billancourt, dates back 40 or 50 years – within a period of 42 months. The entire street lighting power supply system will be overhauled, and all old equipment will be replaced. The first priority is to replace around 2,100 old, energy-inefficient lighting points to achieve initial savings in operating costs. Deployment of innovative equipment featuring state-of-the-art technologies, and the installation of control systems that allow remote operation of individual street lamps, will eventually enable the Urban Area Authority to cut its electricity bills for street lighting by 38%. Under the energy management component of the contract, ETDE is committed to powering the street lighting network using energy from “green sources” (wind, hydro power, etc.), thereby cutting CO2 emissions generated by the two suburbs by some 33,000 metric tons over the duration of the contract. The reconstruction and modernisation of street lighting networks will ensure that Boulogne-Billancourt and Sèvres benefit from extremely high-quality, excellently maintained infrastructure throughout the 20-year contract period.

Resident-friendly works

All street lighting works will be carried out in close cooperation with local authority services in order to limit disruption to local residents. Civil engineering work (involving the digging of trenches totalling some 130 kilometres in length) will be carried out using the micro-trench technique, which allows roads and pavements to be dug up and backfilled within just a few hours. In addition, the technique ensures a four-fold reduction in the amount of material removed from the trench, saving some 1,200 return truck journeys over the duration of the works. In addition, maintenance work will be carried out using clean, silent, energy-efficient electric vehicles. Local residents, meanwhile, will be informed in advance of work that is likely to affect them thanks to a comprehensive communications package which includes a dedicated website and street lighting information centre.

Custom-tailored Lighting Plans for individual districts 

Local authority representatives will select the equipment to be deployed with a view to ensuring its harmonious integration into the urban landscape. ETDE, for its part, called on the lighting engineering and prime contractorship expertise of Roger Narboni (of the firm Concepto). Specific “Lighting Plans” were drawn up for each of the 11 districts of the Val de Seine urban area. Large lighting columns topped by novel signal masts which light up differently during the week and at weekends will be sited at 14 access points to the two suburbs. Finally, the contract also calls for floodlighting to be installed at 51 heritage locations (including both town halls, as well as cultural facilities and noteworthy sites and buildings).

ETDE: a leader in street lighting PFIs

The new contract is ETDE’s tenth street lighting PFI in Europe. In France, the company signed its first PFI agreement with the City of Auvers-sur-Oise in 2004, and has since won contracts with Sevran (Seine Saint-Denis), Libourne (Gironde) and Contres (Loir-et-Cher). ETDE also has five street lighting PFI operations in the UK, notably on behalf of several London boroughs. The company also provides comprehensive street lighting management services for many cities in France and internationally, including Lille, Nîmes and Dijon, as well as Libreville and Port-Gentil (Gabon), under more than 50 contracts ranging from 8 to 35 years in length. ETDE delivers a broad range of services encompassing energy supply and equipment maintenance, as well as related services such as 24-hour callout, remote network maintenance, emergency response, troubleshooting, etc. In total, it has some 750,000 lighting points under management around the world.

About ETDE

A subsidiary of Bouygues Construction, ETDE is an integrator of technical and services solutions for public- and private-sector customers in the energy, industry, service, transport, environment and telecommunications sectors. The company’s operations are based around three business areas: utility networks (electricity, street lighting, fibre-optics, water, gas, etc.) in both urban and rural areas; M&E and HVAC engineering for building interiors; and facilities management. Since 2001, ETDE has enjoyed considerable growth, and today ranks among the market leaders. ETDE offers comprehensive capabilities that encompass engineering, installation, maintenance and operation for both French and international customers. With more than 13,000 employees, a network of 200 locations across France, and a presence in almost 30 countries worldwide, ETDE posted sales of 1.7 billion euros in 2007.