Holló Szilvia Andrea: Budapest's Public Works - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)

Converters and substations

■ The breathtaking view: Budapeit awaih in lighti

Converters and substations

Of the central plants, the one in (New)Leopold Town closed down, the Kelenföld unit was turned into a thermal power station, and only the one on Váci út retained its original function within the electric power supply system. On the other hand, the

tomer service offices in the interior districts of Budapest with local bureaux established in outlying areas, and the reading of metres was brought under the company’s own management. To ensure the feasibility of long-term operation, the government decided to privatise domestic power distribution companies in 1995 when Elmű's packet of shares was acquired by a German consortium. Since then commercial and technical activities have been separated in accordance with relevant legal regulations.

The system of street lighting has undergone considerable changes in the intervening years: several inert gases have been experimented with, and some of the highly luminescent but energy-intensive luminaries have been replaced with energy-saving ones. In 2001 the Mayor's Office and Elrrm established a new company under the name of Budapest Floodlight and Street Illumination Ltd., which was put in charge of street lamps and floodlighting systems, and proceeded to replace older lamps with new, energy-efficient, light-controlled sodium lights or strip lights, which are now computer-operated.

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