South Energy, the energy solution’s arm of Dubai South, announced that it has been contracted to retrofit the entire Dubai South’s street lighting with energy-efficient solutions to effectively replace about 4,550 conventional streetlights with LED lighting fixtures. Under the agreement, South Energy will act as an energy services company (ESCO) providing all the aspects of the project for a duration of 10 years.

Aimed at enhancing the overall sustainability of the city, the project is set to bring huge benefits in terms of energy savings, reduced maintenance costs, and positive environmental impacts, in line with Dubai South’s vision of creating a vibrant society where people can live and work in a sustainable, healthy and happy environment. It also seeks to contribute to achieving the 30 per cent energy demand reduction targets of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy by 2030. Dubai is positioned to become a global model in green economy transition through leadership, partnership and adoption of energy-efficient technologies, in line with UAE’s strategic efforts to achieve sustainable development.

The overall project is expected to save energy consumption on streetlights by up to 67 per cent from its previous usage. The expected energy savings is about 4.5 million kWh annually, with the total energy and maintenance cost savings reaching up to AED 2.25 million per year.

Dubai South looks to use the resulting spare load of approximately 1,100 kW to better manage its infrastructure upgrading projects, as well as contribute to its efforts of reducing the city’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2,250 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per year.

Khalifa Al Zaffin, Executive Chairman, Dubai Aviation City Corporation and Dubai South, said: “Dubai South is committed to ensuring the accessibility of reliable and modern energy services across Dubai South and efficiently consume energy. This commitment is in line with UAE’s Energy Strategy 2050, which targets to increase the share of clean energy in our energy mix and reduce carbon footprint from power generation. By consciously aligning our energy usage through clean technologies, we can take part in reducing electricity consumption and show the benefits to individuals and companies alike.”

Ismail Al Marzooqi, CEO, South Energy, noted: “Our latest project for the entire Dubai South is testament to South Energy’s ever-expanding capability to provide advanced and sustainable energy solutions. Through this project, South Energy will serve as an ESCO provider to oversee the financing, development, implementation, operation and maintenance of the project. We take the responsibility of achieving the guarantees of savings for the project’s lifetime and the cost savings will be shared between South Energy and Dubai South for 10 years.”

The LED lighting fixtures have 10 years of warranty or more than 50,000 hours lifetime, thereby eliminating the need to replace every now and then as in the case of conventional streetlamps, which has much shorter lifespan and adds to waste. Managing the waste and properly disposing the replaced lamps are also part of Dubai South’s energy and carbon management policy. The company said the discarded lamps will not be sent to landfill and will instead be scraped or recycled as applicable.

South Energy has awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) works to BMTC. All fixtures will be equipped with NEMA sockets for future integration with smart lighting management system, in line with Dubai South’s Smart City development plans.