Christmas lighting in Lisbon will be issued from December 6, with reduced opening hours, to guarantee “50% savings” in energy consumption compared to 2021, the city council announced this Friday.

Complying with the Government’s 2022-2023 energy saving plan, the Lisbon City Council (CML) decided, in addition to turning on the lights only from December 6th, to reduce the period in which they will remain in operation, determining that on sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday and thursday they will be available between 6 pm and 11 pm and on friday and saturday from 6 pm to midnight. On Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, the lighting opening hours will be extended for another hour, temporarily remaining from 18:00 to 01:00, informed to CML, in a note sent to the Lusa agency.

Regarding the investment in Christmas lighting, included in a protocol with the Union of Commerce and Services Associations (UACS), the chamber said that the value “is the same as that presented in previous years”, in the order of 750 thousand euros, the 50 thousand euros are added for actions and events in this area.

“Lisbon will light up in traditional places, between squares, streets and avenues, using low-consumption lamps with LED technology, allowing an energy saving of around 85% compared to the obsolete incandescence technology”, indicated the municipality.

According to the Council of Ministers resolution n.º 82/2022, published on September 27 in Diário da República, which defines preventive measures to reduce energy consumption related to interior and exterior lighting, the local public administration must adjust the periods of use of Christmas lighting for the time period between 18:00 and 24:00, “from December 6, 2022 to January 6, 2023”.

Considering that the demanding times “call everyone to the challenge of energy savings”, the CML informed that the reduction of hours, this year, for Christmas lighting allows energy savings of around 50% compared to 2021, the year in which that the lights were issued on the 19th of November.

“The option in the type of LED technologies and means used, associated with a reduction in the number of hours of operation, will allow for much saved energy savings compared to previous years”, highlighted the municipality, informing that the use of LED lamps allows 85% savings in energy terms, which already happened in 2021 with the use of lighting with this technology, but the final calculation of savings depends on other variables.

In 2021, the installed power was 195.71 kilowatts (kW), for 299 hours of operation, which resulted in a total consumption of 58.5 megawatt-hours (MWh), said the chamber, noting that, for this year, the forecast is 179.26 kW of installed power, for 172 hours of operation, and a total consumption of 30.8 MWh.

In percentage terms, compared to 2021, reductions of 8.4% in installed capacity are expected this year (91.6%); 42.5% in the number of operating hours (57.5%); and 47.35% in total consumption (52.65%), according to data released by CML.

“Saving the planet’s resources is something that concerns us as managers. And with that in mind, we always seek guarantees in the use of the latest saving techniques, whether by using more efficient materials or by using renewable energies. during production”, announced the municipal executive of Lisbon, chaired by Carlos Moedas (PSD).

The municipality also highlighted that Christmas is a time when many merchants hope to boost their business areas, in order to achieve more and better commercial offer, and therefore, to this end, it is essential to promote abortion that contributes to the increase of movement in the streets and in the shops.

In this sense, the Christmas lights have been “one of the highlights of stimulating trade in Lisbon”, reinforced the CML, adding that they also constitute a tradition strongly rooted by all those who live and resist in the capital, “assuming an increased importance due to the high number of tourists and visitors that, every year, at this time, visit the city”.