The SCMS platform won two prestigious smart city awards for its pivotal role in the Ville de Laval smart lighting and dynamic signage panels project
The City of Shawinigan Saves 1.99 MWh of Electricity Everyday Thanks to Their Urban Smart Lighting Control System
In its most recent study report on the smart lighting system project in Shawinigan, Énergère notes that by lowering lighting to 60%, as it is currently doing, the city achieves a daily energy consumption savings of 1,99 MWh for its 6,141 LED street lights.
In 2017, Shawinigan became the first city to install a smart lighting system in Quebec province. This system, marketed by Dimonoff, allows the city to manage its street lights remotely by providing control functions (switching on, switching off, managing intensity) as well as telemetry functions (measurement, status detection and anomaly detection).
"Dimonoff enables us to better manage our city. Shawinigan’s 6,141 street lights can now rely on Dimonoff | SCMS system when it comes to speed, security and capability. From a city standpoint, using Dimonoff | SCMS offers significant advantages: a scalable solution, a robust platform and the opportunity of making substantial energy saving."
Martin Martel. Engineer, City of Shawinigan
Hydro-Québec wanted to seize this opportunity to carry out a pilot project to assess the reliability of electricity consumption measurements by Dimonoff smart nodes.
“We completed this $ 3M project by obtaining a direct Hydro-Québec grant of $370,000 for the purchase of LED lights. In addition, since 2018, we have achieved an annual reduction in our electricity and maintenance bill of more than $ 300,000, "said Mayor Michel Angers. "And this study, which Énergère has just completed, will allow us to obtain additional savings of more than $ 70,000 on our electricity bill thanks to the smart technology we have put in place. "
Michel Angers. Mayor of Shawinigan
Smart Lighting Control to Reduce the City’s Energy Bill
The outcome of this pilot project is important for the city of Shawinigan. It allows Hydro-Québec to recognize the energy savings linked to the “dimming” functionality of its smart lighting network. This will result in a reduction in the electricity bill.
The basic lighting intensity in Shawinigan is currently adjusted to 60% for 95% of LED street lights because, generally, the intensity at 100% is considered too powerful and uncomfortable by citizens. The use of a control system such as Dimonoff | SCMS therefore represents a basic local economy of 40%.
A Control, Management and Analysis Platform to Define Lighting Scenarios
The main parameters to be taken into account in establishing a dimming scenario are the classification of roads, the type of neighborhood and the density of pedestrians that are the subject of the lighting. And this lighting is needed at two time intervals: evening / morning and night.
Énergère’s study reveals that it would be possible to create, in the lighting control platform, specific lighting programs or scenarios for the evening / morning and night, and even for the different days of the week.
Hydro-Quebec Peak Reduction Potential
The study also found that these results could potentially be generalized across a majority of cities and municipalities in the province.
By adopting this strategy, Hydro-Québec could see its daily peak periods reduced. The municipalities would thus make a substantial contribution to the collective effort to reduce electricity consumption. They would thus reduce their share of greenhouse gas emissions but also their light pollution.
They could thus fully contribute to a new municipal approach of Hydro-Québec’s Hilo initiative, which promotes green technologies and energy saving. The implementation of a large-scale intelligent lighting control system would be the result of a product and service offering of new intelligent technologies and would enhance our clean energy thus meeting Hilo’s mission: “Energy becomes intelligent”.
Dimonoff’s recommendations aim to have Hydro-Quebec recognize energy saving efforts by allowing Quebec municipalities to adjust their electricity bills according to their actually measured consumption.
City of Shawinigan Case Study
Dimonoff enabled Shawinigan to gain control over their street lighting energy consumption and data to reduce its lighting bills.
In the press (content in french)
L’Êcho de Trois-Rivières
Shawinigan saves 1.99 MWh of electricity every day with its 6,141 LED lights
Le Nouvelliste Économique
Smart lighting: a pilot project that thrills Shawinigan
L’hebdo du St-Maurice
Positive results for the smart lighting pilot project
Ville de Shawinigan
Shawinigan saves 1.99 MWh of electricity every day with its 6,141 LED lights
Author: Cyriaque Bonamy
Director, Marketing & Communications