Dynamic apron lighting
The optimization of airport operations is crucial for enhancing energy efficiency and ensuring safety. A significant aspect of this is the lighting of aircraft stands, which traditionally relies on fixed illuminance levels as mandated by European regulation EASA CS-ADR-DSN. To address energy consumption concerns, Groupe ADP has initiated the Dynamic Apron Lighting innovation project at Terminal 2F in Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). With key steps already completed, including the transition to LED, benchmarking, and experimentation, the innovation project is now focused on finalizing the 'Guide of Apron Lighting' for dissemination to other airports. Initial results show significant energy savings and a promising reduction in carbon impact, contributing to more sustainable airport operations.
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Objectives
This innovation project aims to optimize the control of apron lighting based on the presence of aircraft, leveraging both tower data and sensor technologies.
The primary objectives of this project are:
Energy Savings: Reduce energy consumption by optimizing the periods of full illuminance when aircraft are present on the aprons.
Enhanced Safety and Security: Ensure that lighting levels meet regulatory standards, maintaining safety and security for passengers, operators, aircraft, and overall operations.
Development and Dissemination of Best Practices: Create a comprehensive 'Guide of Apron Lighting' to share optimized lighting strategies with other airports.
Progress
The Dynamic Apron Lighting project follows a structured approach, involving several key steps:
Switch to LED Lighting: Transition from High-Pressure Sodium lights to LED lighting through a detailed lighting study. This step has been completed, achieving approximately 40% energy savings.
Benchmarking: Evaluate the use of sensors (such as cameras, light, and presence detectors) and/or tower data to control apron lighting. This involved a comparative study of practices at French and European airports, which has also been completed.
Experimentation and Optimization: Conduct experiments to improve optimization using both sensor technologies and tower data. This includes evaluating each step, measuring energy impact, and gathering feedback from apron users. This phase is completed, demonstrating additional energy savings.
Guide of Apron Lighting: Compile the findings and best practices into a 'Guide of Apron Lighting.' This guide will be shared with other airports, starting with Zagreb and Cluj, to promote energy-efficient lighting practices. This step is currently 50% complete, with an expected completion date of September 2024.
Key figures
Energy Savings: Initial implementation of LED lighting resulted in energy savings of approximately 40% for the LED, 10 to 20% for the current optimization system. On the remaining total consumption optimizations through dynamic lighting controls are expected to yield an additional 10% -20%.
Carbon Impact Analysis: Ongoing analysis aims to quantify the reduction in carbon emissions resulting from the optimized lighting strategies. This is expected to be completed by the end of September.
