Benidorm begins the renovation of lighting in the downtown area, financed 50% with EU funds, to achieve 79% energy savings

Benidorm City Council is going to start the Energy Efficiency project in the Downtown area with which it is intended to renew more than 50% of the city's public lighting and which will allow energy savings of 79% to be achieved. In this phase the investment will be 2,059,661.38 euros, according to the mayor Toni Pérez, who has been accompanied by the regional director of SICE, the company that will carry out the action, Eduardo González-Novo Hernández.

The action will be co-financed with European funds and according to Pérez, this project "will make Benidorm a more sustainable city and destination." The mayor added that "we continue with the 2030 Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and working with municipal technicians so that this important political vocation is translated into realities for people of Benidorm." In this sense, Pérez has emphasized that “when we started this journey in 2015, the axes that accompanied us needed powerful projects. One of those axes was sustainability, but also in this case we add innovation and technology ”.

In July of last year the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE) approved the subsidy requested by the City Council for the supply and installation of LED luminaires and their regulation and control for an amount of 3,007,289.28 euros, the 50% of the total investment, which amounts to 6,014,578.57 euros. The project planned to act on 7,808 points of light of the 14,343 that exist in the municipality, 54.44% of the municipal lighting. "It is the most important project in the history of the city, comparatively, due to the number of points of light and interventions that are going to be carried out", the mayor pointed out.

This project has been divided into three phases, taking into account the technical criteria and the high number of light points to be modified, as well as the magnitude of the areas where it will act. The first phase in which action will be taken will correspond to the downtown area, which includes the old town, its expansion and the neighborhoods of Foietes-Colonia Madrid and Imalsa-Els Tolls ”.

An area that, according to the mayor, “corresponds to the area of ​​action of EDUSI (Strategy for Sustainable and Integrative Urban Development), for which Benidorm has obtained 10 million euros of European funds and which is also beginning to implement this year with the promotion of emblematic projects such as the creation of a youth hostel in Parque de la Séquia Mare, the renovation of the Bullring and the start of the projects to improve pedestrian mobility and accessibility in Els Tolls and Foietes " .
In this first phase, 2,517 light points and 54 command centers will be operated. This means renewing 73.81% of the 3,410 existing light points in the area, which will allow the reduction of installed power from 441.20 kW to 119.53 kW. This reduction will translate, said Toni Pérez "into a benefit not only economic and social, but also, and this is the key to action, environmental, since CO2 emissions will be reduced exponentially".

Ten offers were submitted to the tender for this first phase, through public and open competition, of which the company Sociedad Ibérica de Construcciones Eléctricas S.A. was better valued with 90.75 points. (SICE). The total budget of the contract is 2,059,661.38 euros, VAT included and the execution period of the works is set at six months.

The three phases of the project will take place between 2021 and 2023. The first, the Central area, will begin this year, while in 2022 the works of the second phase will be undertaken with an estimated value of about 3.5 million. Phase 3 will take place in 2023 with the remaining investment.

Benidorm project was selected by the IDAE within a call for projects by local entities that would favor the transition to a low-carbon economy, within the framework of ERDF for Sustainable Growth 2014-2020 operational program. In this sense, Toni Pérez has stated that his government "combines the verb to ask, but providing work and municipal resources." That, he continued, "makes these calls, grants and aid a lever to get to the place we had designed to be earlier as a consequence of our strategic plans."

Project details
Toni Pérez has indicated that "the luminaires to be installed are of 'led' technology -" much more efficient than the current ones "- and will be equipped with a system that will allow to turn on, turn off or regulate the luminous flux individually or jointly in function of the different night hours and types of roads, adjusting to the needs of citizens.
The mayor has specified that this project will reach all the neighborhoods of Benidorm, since “it proposes to act on the first line of Levante and Poniente, in the Ensanche de Levante, Colonia Madrid, Old Town, Downtown area, Calvari, La Cala, Els Tolls, Rincón de Loix, the main accesses to the city, Salt de l'Aigua, Alfredo Corral, surroundings of Vía Parque, Finca Barrina, Mercasa, Guillermo Amor Sports City and Parque de l'Aigüera, among others ”.
“With projects like this - he has deepened - we continue to bet on the implementation of all technological advances that allow us to be more efficient and more respectful with the environment every day, reducing CO2 emissions by 2,422.78 tons per year, and improving with this is the quality of life of citizens ”.