Helping Bring Energy Efficient Street Lighting to Zacatecoluca

Mrs. Pilar del Rosario Iraheta is a lifelong resident of Zacatecoluca, a municipality of about 66,000 people in southern El Salvador. For the past 30 years, she has supported her family by selling coconuts along Zacatecoluca´s main access road. She is one of the more than 40,000 people who benefited from the Energy Efficient Street Lighting Project, developed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Regional Clean Energy Initiative (RCEI). 

 

USAID selected Tetra Tech to implement RCEI, which installed 177 street lights in areas that had no public lighting system, with the main goal of strengthening the community’s public security. Tetra Tech developed and managed the installation of the street lights from design to implementation. The RCEI team prepared design specifications, including minimum technical and energy efficiency requirements for the technology; procured the equipment; oversaw the installation and necessary upgrades to the electrical distribution network; and ensured compliance with technical specifications. 

 

In addition, RCEI supported the municipality by providing technical assistance to replace approximately 1,700 inefficient street lamps with new, more energy-efficient street lights. The RCEI program has helped bring new life to public areas where local business and recreational areas are now open after dark. This model will also help shape USAID interventions across El Salvador.