Private Finance Initiative contract is worth in the region of £220 million pounds over 25 years
ABB, the global power and automation technology company, has been chosen as Staffordshire County Council’s private sector partner for an innovative, multi-million pound government sponsored PFI (Private Finance Initiative) project. The project will involve the replacement, upgrade and maintenance of road lighting and illuminated traffic signs. The upgrading of the County’s lighting stock should result in fewer road accidents and a general reduction in criminal activity. The 25-year contract is estimated to be worth around 220 million pounds.
ABB has completed a rigorous selection process defined in the government’s PFI legislation in order to have been selected for this major contract to maintain and upgrade the County’s road lighting stock. In addition to offering a competitive cost over the whole life of the project, ABB also had to prove its capability to meet tight performance standards that is part of its core skills and business activities. ABB is already a proven and major player in the provision of Public Lighting Services to a number of Local Authorities.
Paul Northwood of ABB Power Technologies said: “This project is typical of ABB’s approach to performance based asset management which combines strategic consultancy with technical implementation. The key factors in favour of our selection were that as well as offering a very competitive price, we are already providing a maintenance and installation service for over half the County, so they are putting their faith in a tried and trusted local team. We are aiming to complete normal lighting repairs within five working days. However for emergencies, where there is a risk to life or property, we will be providing a two-hour response.”
Leader of Staffordshire County Council’s Development Services, Councillor John Wakefield said: “On some parts of the project new ‘white lighting’ will be installed which meets improved modern standards. This type of lighting offers better colour rendering which aids perception and should have a positive effect on reducing night-time injury accidents and also reducing street crime.
“Initially, the main work will involve the replacement of 25,000 street lighting columns across the County in the first five years. The contract also covers maintenance of our
entire stock of over 100,000 road lighting units and illuminated traffic signs and we expect more than 98 percent of them to be kept lit at any one time.”
ABB will carry out the lighting maintenance activities from its service centres at Burton, Cannock and Stone. The project covers the whole of Staffordshire with the exception of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, which is a separate unitary authority.
The public is invited to report lighting faults and damage via the Council’s dedicated freephone number – 0800 23 23 23 – for its ‘Clarence’ call centre, which is open from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm. ABB is also in the process of setting up a dedicated web page that will enable faults to be reported via the internet.
Editors notes
A lighting column has a life expectancy of between 40 and 45 years.
Modern lamps, operating from dusk to dawn, have a useful life of around three years.