Overview

The Municipality of Portalegre launched a 16-year ESCO-funded lighting modernization project in 2021 to reduce energy consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and enable smart city transformation. Motivated by high energy costs and environmental concerns, the project replaced outdated luminaires with LED units and reconnected previously inactive circuits. The system now includes centralized remote control of luminaires, enabling optimized lighting schedules and adjustments, tailored to each space's requirements. It covers roads and historical urban areas, with lighting levels aligned to actual needs. The project not only focuses on energy efficiency but also supports the municipality’s broader vision to become a Smart City. It introduces a centralized management platform, pilots for adaptive lighting and environmental monitoring (air quality, CO₂, UV radiation, and temperature), and foresees the installation of a smart billboard with public Wi-Fi. Future phases aim to scale up these pilots and expand IoT-based infrastructure to new areas. Despite early coordination challenges with the national grid operator, the municipality reports high satisfaction with both performance and savings. Portalegre’s model demonstrates how integrated smart technologies can enhance public lighting and urban sustainability.

RESULTS

Savings 80%:

• Energy saving: 2,465,775 kWh/y
• Money saving: 362,468 €/y
• CO₂ reduction: 1,006,036 kg CO2/y

TIMESCALE

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FINANCING

Total investment over 16 years contract: 5,700,000 € (100% ESCO)

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