The EBRD has helped Moldova’s capital Chișinău make the switch from conventional high-voltage street lighting to low energy LED bulbs, thanks to an investment of €11.7 million granted by the EBRD and the EBRD-administered Green Energy Special Fund funded by the Taiwanese International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF), further supported by €10.3 million from the European Investment Bank.
As a result, public spaces in Chișinău are getting a well overdue makeover, with a network of 34,000 mercury-based lights being replaced by modern LED technology.
LEDs are made of thousands of cool silvery pinpoint lights which switch on in an instant. While the initial outlay is higher, the LEDs have longer service lives than their predecessors, making them a far greener and efficient choice.
And the environment isn’t the only winner. Thanks to the LED technology, annual energy consumption in Chișinău is predicted to be reduced by nearly 60 per cent, saving the city’s purse €106,280 every year.
The street lighting revamp is just part of the EBRD’s investment in Chișinău’s infrastructure. The loan will also be used to update the roads themselves, with asphalt, pavements, pedestrian areas, water drainage infrastructure and parking facilities, totalling 14 kilometres across the city centre, all being improved and upgraded.
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