The Abu Dhabi City Municipality, ADM, is set to embark on the mega ‘Abu Dhabi Lighting’ project during the first quarter of 2018 to replace the existing conventional lights with LED lights.

This power-saving project stems from the commitment of the municipality to reduce power consumption, achieve sustainable development and conserve energy. It expects to accomplish the project in 18 months and operate it for a period of ten years.

The project aims to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, cut maintenance and operating costs, and achieve additional savings in consumption by reducing the luminous intensity and using dimming-control applications. It will also introduce LED technology, which will bring in several social, economic and environmental benefits.

In this regard, ADM, together with its consultants Parsons, the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, representatives of private firms such as suppliers and contractors and its strategic partners held a specialist introductory course about the light works in Abu Dhabi.

The workshop presented plans and needs of the city’s street lighting system through replacing the existing street lighting units (HPS and MH) with LED Luminaires. The project will be rolled out as a public-private partnership model with emphasis on the pioneering nature of the Abu Dhabi Island Lighting System project, which will be released, to tendering later this year.

Sultan Al Muhairi, the official Spokesperson of the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, stressed the importance of this workshop in saving electricity and conserving energy resources, thanks to the use of modern lighting technologies, which will reflect positively on realising considerable economic and environmental benefits.

"The Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council is keen on co-operating with all concerned parties in public and private sectors in this national project to ensure that the lighting systems in use conform to the best standards and practices of quality and safety," he said.

Al Muhairi pointed out that the product certification system of LED external lights has been developed to ensure the safety, quality and efficiency of power consumption in municipal lighting systems such as ‘Abu Dhabi Lighting’ project.

The workshop also saw a paper about the contractual and legal requirements of the project presented by Jamal Abu Ali from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Ruth McMorro, Executive Vice President of Parsons and Michael Palmeri, President and Founder of B3Point, presented a paper on "Requirements of Project Funding, Payment Method, and Bid Evaluation."