The M80 Ring Road Completion project is now harnessing the power of renewable energy with new solar and battery lighting up and running.
More than 140 temporary solar panel light towers have been installed this year across the project, stretching from Watsonia along the Greensborough Highway to the M80 interchange at Greensborough, as well as at a number of key intersections.
The solar panel light towers collectively have the capacity to generate up to 309 megawatt hours of electricity over five years, which is the equivalent to lighting the MCG for 43 games of football.
Using solar these clean, silent and zero-emission LED lighting towers will provide a number of benefits during construction including:
- Better visibility for road users travelling through construction zones, with increased brightness and clarity.
- Improved energy efficiency by using the sun’s natural light to power lighting of the project area, helping to reduce construction noise impacts for nearby residents.
- The new lights have a much longer lifespan than traditional diesel-powered ones, meaning less need for replacements and therefore less waste.
- Easier and safer to move lighting towers to where they’re needed, without needing to install underground cables The ease of movement also reduces disruptions as we don't need to close sections of the road off for long periods of time to move them around.
Using renewable electricity at the M80 Ring Road Completion project will help reduce carbon emissions by around 20,613 tonnes during construction - when compared to using diesel powered temporary lights. This is equivalent to saving the annual emissions of 1,000 average Australian households.
Thanks to the Alliance's work with the M80 Ring Road Completion project, North East Link and Major Road Projects Victoria, solar powered lighting on projects could become the norm, rather than the exception, in future.