A Canadian Lighting firm LED Roadway Lighting Ltd (LRL) has made a deal with Sony to manufacture energy efficient street lights at its UK Technology Centre in Pencoed, near Bridgend in Wales.
This new type of energy efficient street lighting will not only help to reduce business electricity costs for councils in the UK but the deal will also create between 30 and 50 new jobs. Salford City Council has already ordered 2,000 of the energy efficient street lights.
LRL hopes that other local authorities will follow suit and order the energy efficient lights and if they do it could mean hundreds more jobs are created at the Sony plant.
The lights are already used in other countries around the world and use 50-80% less energy than conventional street lights. It means that as councils struggle to cut spending and as business electricity prices increase, they could save money by installing the energy saving lighting from LRL.
The company is working with Capita Symonds, an infrastructure consultant, to develop an LED street lighting conversion programme for the UK. At the present low carbon lights are being trialled in Cardiff, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.
MP for Ogmore, Huw Irranca_Davies said of the new contract “The expertise at Sony Pencoed is well known, and is a credit to everyone who works there. “It is excellent news for the area that this will likely create an extra 30 to 50 jobs at the site, with the potential for even more later down the line as UK and European markets grow”.
The managing director of Sony UK Technology Centre, Steve Dalton OBE, said the company was looking forward to working with LRL. He said “As they make inroads into the UK market, it presents new job creating opportunities and supports our work in the renewable energy sector”.
