Russian Highways improves the efficiency of outdoor lighting and power supply systems

The Russian Highways State Company held a seminar on the operation of outdoor lighting and power supply lines for expressways under trust management. The event was attended by specialists from the central office and branches responsible for the maintenance and development of energy infrastructure facilities.
Today almost 6.5 thousand kilometers of outdoor lighting lines, more than 1700 transformer substations and about 240 thousand lamps are under the management of the State Company. Outdoor lighting and power supply systems remain invisible to most road users, yet they are exactly what ensures the safety and comfort of road traffic.
One of the key topics of the seminar was improving the energy efficiency of outdoor lighting facilities. This direction includes a whole set of measures. In particular, work is underway to improve the schedules of switching the lighting on and off. Today there is a transition from fixed operating hours to control based on the actual position of the sun. This takes into account climatic peculiarities of the regions and road safety requirements.
In addition, the participants discussed the introduction of digital light sensors in areas where the existing relay control schemes do not provide the necessary accuracy of lighting operation. According to experts' estimates, adjustment of operation modes can provide savings in electricity consumption.
Special attention was paid to the application of dimming of LED lighting fixtures and digital monitoring of equipment operation.
Specialists from Krasnodar, Tver and Voronezh branches shared their experience in improving energy efficiency of outdoor lighting.
On the sections of the M-4 "Don" and M-11 "Neva" highways with low traffic intensity at night, dimming is applied - reducing the power of luminaires without worsening the normative illumination indicators. This approach meets the requirements of current regulations and allows to significantly reduce electricity consumption.
The seminar also discussed solutions for remote monitoring of outdoor lighting facilities, control of energy consumption and improving the efficiency of contractors by assessing the actual performance of lighting systems.
The exchange of practical experience between the branches allows replicating the most effective solutions, improving the reliability of outdoor lighting facilities operation and reducing maintenance costs without compromising road safety.