Muscat Municipality is replacing sodium street lights with LED ones in a phased manner. This is being done to cut down on the high electricity consumption and reduce light pollution in the city.
Eng Ziyad al Zadjali, director of Lighting Department at Muscat Municipality, said, “Some 7,200 such lights are being installed in the first phase. These new lights will help in reducing CO2 emissions and light pollution.”
The lights are being installed from the Barka Palace roundabout to Seeb beach road, Quriyat Fins, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque towards Irfan Bridge, from The Wave roundabout to the end of 18 November Street and Qurm Heights Road.
There are close to 130,000 light poles in Muscat. “So, it will take a while before all the lights are installed,” Eng Zadjali said.
He said that these new LED lights come with a lot of features. One of them is motion sensors.
These sensors will dim the lights when there is no vehicular movement on the road.
“These lights can save power by 50 per cent as they dim when there is no vehicular movement, thereby reducing the expenses.”
Explaining further how these sensors work, Eng Zadjali said, “These LED lights are triggered by motion sensors. As a car approaches, its movement is detected by the closest streetlight, and its output goes up to 100 per cent.
“These lights are linked through a wireless network. We are testing them by installing the first 50 LED lights on the Qurm Heights Road,” he said.
These redesigned lights are an answer to the growing problem of light pollution. “The street lights are meant to illuminate the streets and not the adjoining areas. This will ultimately check light pollution.”
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