the public lighting market | France

1.1 Presentation of the public lighting market

The public lighting market brings together various players and companies whose aim is to provide lighting for roads and public spaces, whether for the comfort or safety of users. Several activities are related to this market: supply of lighting equipment, supply of energy, construction of appropriate infrastructures.

There are four types of companies operating in the market:

• Public decision-makers who, through tenders, determine the market demand (municipalities and communities).
• Infrastructure construction and service providers (e.g., Spie)
• Lighting equipment suppliers (e.g. Comatelec Schreder)
• Energy suppliers (e.g. EDF)

The French public lighting market is mainly drived by the network maintenance. This is followed by spending on the renewal of installations and then on energy consumption.

The French street lighting market is faced with two main challenges: economical and ecological. Energy costs are becoming increasingly expensive for local authorities, and they have to deal with criticism of greenhouse gas emissions and light pollution.

Many actors are now focusing on the renewal of the existing lighting stock thanks to increasingly innovative intelligent lighting solutions: low energy lamps, LEDs, connected lighting, lighting plans, etc. All these initiatives are part of the "smart cities" trend, which suggests that the French street lighting market will increase in value in the short and medium term.

Local authorities have recorded a net loss in their local finances this could have an impact on future public spending, including street lighting. Despite this, the health crisis has largely contributed to reinforcing certain emerging trends, such as the renewal of the lighting stock in favor of LEDs and the extinction of lights during off-peak hours of the night.