Sandefjord municipality reduced energy consumption on road and street lighting by 76% through modernisation and smart lighting control, an investment that secured them the Norwegian Lighting Award 2025 in the Sustainability category.
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Sandefjord municipality is responsible for road and street lighting along 355 kilometers of municipal roads, in addition to parking lots, parks and various types of sports facilities. In total, just over 8,200 light fixtures are distributed throughout the municipality. As a future-oriented municipality, Sandefjord has a clear goal of reducing its climate footprint.
By 2030, greenhouse gas emissions in the municipality must be reduced by at least 40 per cent compared to 1990 levels, which is in accordance with the government's report on how Norway can become a low-emission society in 2050. In this context, moderning outdoor lighting was seen as an important contribution to the climate debate, and a good example of a successful transformation from energy-intensive luminaires to luminaires with new technology and control that provide a lower carbon footprint and significantly reduced energy consumption.
Road and street lighting previously consisted of light fixtures with different ages, quality and function. This resulted in high operating and maintenance costs and a significant annual energy consumption.
Many of the lighting systems had been established before there was a focus on - or the opportunity - to measure energy consumption. Several lighting systems were integrated with the county and the Norwegian Public RoadsAdministration, while there was a lack of distribution cabinets and meters, and were connected directly to the distribution grid of the local grid company (Lede AS).
The ignition mechanism for large parts of the plants was based on local astro clocks without the possibility of remote control and monitoring.
With such a setup, it was not possible to control either the distribution cabinets or the light fixtures individually, while the energy costs were inaccurate because unmetered systems were billed based on stipulated consumption from the grid company.
The implementation was done as a collaborative project between Sandefjord municipality and the suppliers Datek, Laugstol AS, AEC Illuminazione and Louis Poulsen. The collaboration between the parties involved resulted in a complete and modern lighting system, which included new technology, with energy-efficient components and luminaires that are designed in relation to location and function.
Datek delivers a centralized control system that makes it possible to monitor, dim and optimize the light levels across the municipality's 160 road lighting cabinets and 8,200luminaires. Datek's delivery includes smart control nodes that are mounted directly on the luminaires, so that you get full control and control options all the way down to the luminaire level.
The municipality has chosen to set up a dimming profile that adjusts the light throughout the night to save energy without compromising safety. At sunset, it is adjusted from 70% and gradually down to 20% when activity is lowest at night. With the central control system, the municipality can change and adjust dimming profiles in realtime if requirements and needs should change.
Sandefjord Municipality had an annual energy consumption of 2.8 million kWh on roads and street lights before the renovation project started. After the project was completed, Sandefjord Municipality has achieved a reduction in annual energy consumption of as much as 2.1 million kWh, which corresponds to a reduction of 76% of the total energy consumption.
After a successful upgrade, Sandefjord municipality has received an energy-efficient and future-oriented lighting facility, which supports the municipality's key sustainability goals and the UN's sustainability goals.
With Datek's centralized lighting control system, the municipality has gained an overview and opportunities to control the roads and street lights throughout the municipality individually based on the local needs they have in the municipality. Sometimes it is important to dim the lights to save energy, other times it is reduced light pollution that you want to achieve with the dimming of the luminaires.
"The jury wants to highlight this rehabilitation project as an important contribution to the climate debate, and is a good example of a successful transformation from energy-intensive luminaires to luminaires with new technology and control providing a lower carbon footprint and significantly reduced energy consumption.
Quote from jury member from the Norwegian Lighting Award 2025in the Sustainability category.
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