Public Lighting Upgrade Project (Revoked)

The Public Lighting Upgrade Project (Revoked) was an energy efficiency initiative located within the municipality of the City of Melbourne, centering on the Melbourne CBD. Registered in December 2015, the project was designed to encompass the council's major infrastructure works to upgrade street and public lighting across the city's road network and parks. The project area covers the highly urbanized landscape of central Melbourne, a region characterized by dense commercial and public infrastructure rather than agricultural land use.

The project operated under the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative, Commercial and Public Lighting) Methodology Determination 2015. This methodology credits emissions reductions achieved by replacing legacy lighting assets, such as mercury vapour or high-pressure sodium lamps, with energy-efficient alternatives like Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). To generate Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs), proponents must demonstrate that the new system consumes significantly less electricity than the pre-existing system while adhering to relevant safety and lighting standards.

While the region generally experiences a temperate climate with moderate rainfall (approximately 600mm annually) and sits atop a mix of Silurian sedimentary bedrock and Quaternary basalt soils, these environmental factors are less critical for this industrial energy project than for land-based carbon farming.

Notably, this project was voluntarily revoked in September 2018 under Section 30 of the CFI Rule. Historical reports indicate the City of Melbourne initially registered this project to help fund their goal of upgrading over 15,000 street lights to LED. However, the revocation suggests the council may have pivoted to alternative state-based incentives, such as the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) program, or simply funded the upgrades directly to meet their Carbon Neutral goals without the administrative burden of the federal ACCU scheme.