BRATISLAVA, 27 November 2014
The public tender, the subject of which was the reconstruction of lighting in the town of Čadca, was won this year by the company Cofely, a.s. The contract in the amount of EUR 5 million will not burden the town, the company guarantees repayments from energy savings.
The subject of the contract concluded by Čadca with the company Cofely is the reconstruction of the public lighting system, together with the provision of its operation, maintenance and electricity supply. The cooperation will last for 15 years and the town should save up to 70% of the current costs annually. The lighting in Čadca will be implemented with 2 250 LED lights. Thanks to LED technology, Čadca will pay less for electricity, but it will shine more. “Many towns or municipalities, in an effort to save on electricity, switch off a large part of the public lighting during the night. However, this practice does not solve the problem and is not safe. Lighting with LED lights is not only much more economical than previous measures, but the resulting lighting effect is significantly better, which contributes to the comfort of citizens,” says Dominik Čech, Director of the Supply Division of Cofely, a.s. In the contract, the company undertook to replace 400 steel lighting poles, replace electrical cables with a total length of 30 km and install new electrical switchboards, which are currently in poor technical condition. It is also planned to reconstruct the lighting of pedestrian crossings so that they meet European standards and are safe for the inhabitants of Čadca. The city budget will not suffer The project of revitalisation of the city lighting is divided into two stages – installation and operation. “During the installation phase, we mapped the current state of public lighting directly in the field. Based on the findings, we prepared project documentation and started communicating with the building authority and the city’s expert staff. At the moment, works related to the restoration of the existing electric poles are in progress. We would like to complete the reconstruction of the lighting next year,” says Dominik Čech. Once the reconstruction is completed, Cofely will focus on the operation and maintenance of the lighting, with an emphasis on quality and efficient management. In fact, based on the EPC contract (Energy Performance Contracting), the investment will be repaid from the savings that the reconstruction will bring, which will not burden the municipal budget. This is the first EPC reconstruction in Slovakia on such a large scale. “The refinancing of this project will be handled directly by Cofely with its own resources, through financing from the savings achieved. As a contractor, we provide the city of Čadca with a guarantee to achieve the expected economic benefits by contractually guaranteeing the level of energy savings. The investment and all related costs of energy saving measures will be paid back gradually over the duration of the contractual relationship,” adds Dominik Čech.