Skip to main content

Portuguese toll operator cuts energy costs

Portuguese motorway toll operator Brisa Auto Estradas de Portugal says it is saving over 10 per cent of its electricity costs – worth over US$430,000 – as a result of an energy efficiency plan which was launched in 2010. Electricity consumption accounts for 54 per cent of Brisa’s total energy expenditure, half of which is for the lighting systems of the motorway network.
April 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Portuguese motorway toll operator 2051 BRISA Auto Estradas de Portugal says it is saving over 10 per cent of its electricity costs – worth over US$430,000 – as a result of an energy efficiency plan which was launched in 2010.

Electricity consumption accounts for 54 per cent of Brisa’s total energy expenditure, half of which is for the lighting systems of the motorway network. The company adjusted the timings of the operation of these systems in line with the solar time cycle. In other cases, it has reduced the power of the lightning system from 400Watt to 250Watt and from 250Watt to 150Watt. In 2010 the savings achieved with these policies totalled 11,372 Gigajoules. All subsidiaries reduced the consumption of electricity and the cut on the energy was estimated at 10.9% across the group.

More recently, Brisa has been testing solar panels to power equipment installed along motorways such as SOS telephones, road signs, and cameras, while Brisa’s US subsidiary, Northwest Parkway in Colorado, has recently closed a deal for the installation of photovoltaic panels along 18 km of its motorways.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cost saving multi-agency transportation and emergency management
    May 3, 2012
    Although the recession had dramatically reduced traffic volumes in the past few years, the economy was on the brink of a recovery that portended well for jobs but poorly for traffic congestion. Leaders of four government agencies in Houston, Texas, got together to discuss how to collectively cope with the expected increase in vehicles on the road. "They knew they couldn't pour enough concrete to solve the problem, and they also knew the old model of working in a vacuum as standalone entities would fail," sa
  • Indra implements traffic and toll management on India’s motorways
    October 24, 2012
    Spanish technology provider, Indra, has been awarded contracts valued at US$13.1 million to supply traffic and toll management technology for Indian motorways. Indian infrastructure company GMR has awarded the company three contracts to implement its toll technology on the motorways of the Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajastan and Gujarat states.
  • The afterlife of spent electric vehicle batteries
    April 20, 2012
    Earlier this year, General Motors signed a definitive agreement with ABB Group to identify joint research and development projects that would reuse Chevrolet Volt battery systems, which will have up to 70 per cent of life remaining after their automotive use is exhausted. Recent research conducted by GM predicts that secondary use of 33 Volt batteries will have enough storage capacity to power up to 50 homes for about four hours during a power cut.
  • Paris launches ambitious new cycling plan
    May 5, 2015
    Paris has launched its 2015-2020 cycling strategy, which aims to double the length of the city's cycle network and triple the number of Parisians cycling every day. The strategy was developed with the input of almost 7,000 stakeholders in a consultation period from December 2014 to January 2015 aims to help deal with Paris's high air pollution and concentration of particulates, which caused heavy smog earlier this year and in spring 2015. A total of US$166 million has been allocated to realise the str