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Sohar Port and Freezone claims to be the first port in the Middle East to switch all its street and terminal lighting to LED. Before the end of the year, over 2,200 lights will have been replaced with new energy efficient and low-maintenance luminaires from Philips. The new LED fixtures have a burn time of over 60,000 hours, without replacement or major maintenance, equivalent to around 12 years of normal usage.
Following a two year research and testing phase, Sohar Port & Freezone has invested over US$ 750,000 in the upgrade, which will help to reduce carbon emissions thanks to power savings of around 60%. The port plans to break even on the investment with reduced utility costs within four years.
In the future, the system can be upgraded to dim automatically when no one is using the roads, to further reduce power usage. In addition there are long-term plans to power the system independently from the grid, using solar panels or other renewable energy sources. Safety in the port’s concession areas will also be enhanced thanks to better lighting, especially at road junctions, and the evenly spread, low-glare quality of Philips LED lighting.
Andre Toet, chief executive officer at Sohar Port and Freezone, points out that, “All operations, marine and land side, must comply with best international practices and, as we continue to grow rapidly, we have to develop new concepts for the environmental management of the industrial complex as a whole; our new LED streetlights are just one recent example on the road ahead.”
