Herten's streets shine sustainably: LED conversion successfully completed!

Herten's streets shine sustainably: LED conversion successfully completed!

The conversion of the street lighting in Herten has now been completed after around six and a half years. Over 7,000 lanterns shine in a new, energy-efficient light throughout the city. This project, which reached its final completion in the summer of 2025, could not come more timely, as reducing electricity consumption and saving CO₂ emissions are more important than ever. The city and factory reports, that a total of around 7,700 lanterns have been equipped with modern, energy-saving lamps in recent years. So far, around 80 special lights are still pending replacement, but the majority have already been implemented.

The project started in 2018 and since then around 1,000 new lights have been installed every year. Particular attention was paid to Kaiserstrasse, where residents now enjoy slimmer light poles and intelligent control technology that dims the lights during certain times of the night. This change not only ensures greater energy efficiency, but also reduces light pollution in the cityscape at night.

Lighting for a better environment

The energy-efficient conversion to LED technology results in impressive energy savings of 60 to 80 percent. How Wirsindheller explains, the new lighting reduces power consumption while maintaining the same illuminance. This not only has an impact on electricity costs, but also significantly improves the CO₂ balance. The estimate is that the conversion can reduce CO₂ emissions by over 1,200 tons annually.

Lighting accounts for around 15% of electricity consumption and 5% of CO₂ emissions worldwide. Therefore, converting to LEDs is a crucial step towards climate protection. A new guide presenting ways to reduce energy demand and emissions is already in circulation. Author Jan de Boer from the Fraunhofer Institute highlights the potential of these changes and calls for increased implementation of efficient lighting technology. Energy research reports, that the conversion will be further promoted this year by phasing out fluorescent lamps.

A future with light

The new lights have a service life of around 100,000 operating hours, which corresponds to around 25 years. A key aspect of German efforts to protect the climate is the continuously falling CO₂ emission factor, which was 474 grams per kilowatt hour in 2018. This continuous reduction is supported by more efficient energy production and increased use of renewable energy.

The citizens of Herten can now look forward to sustainable, climate-friendly lighting that not only saves costs, but also significantly improves the cityscape. Converting to LED not only makes sense ecologically but also economically and proves that resource protection and technical innovation can go hand in hand.