2.11.2009
LED light to save energy at Copenhagen Airport

New energy-saving LED light on the taxiways at Copenhagen Airport helps the airport to meet its target of reducing power consumption by at least 10 per cent by 2012. The LED technology is also becoming increasingly popular in other parts of the airport.

3000 Megawatt-hours. This is how much power the lights on and around the runways and taxiways at Copenhagen Airport use every year. The thousands of lights are necessary to conduct more than 250,000 takeoffs and landings safely and efficiently and to meet international requirements to an airport which must be able to receive aircraft in any kind of weather and at all hours of the day.

However, this substantial power consumption in the manoeuvring area is to be reduced over the coming years as part of Copenhagen Airport’s target to minimise its power consumption by at least 10 per cent by 2012, compared with 2007.

For this reason, the airport has begun replacing the strong halogen fittings in the manoeuvring area with modern energy-saving light emitting diodes, also known as LEDs. While the LED technology is becoming increasingly popular as light sources in enterprises and private homes, the manufacturers have now also begun developing special LED fittings for use in airports. However, so far they have mostly been used on a test basis.

“The lights of an airport must meet some strict requirements, for instance from ICAO, the United Nation civil aviation organisation. LED is still not an option for lighting runways, because the light output is not strong enough, but several products are available for edge and centre lights on the taxiways the aircraft use on their way to and from the runways, and we are testing some of them right now,” says Kristian Kongstad, VP Real Estate at Copenhagen Airports A/S and responsible for the company’s energy consumption.

Edge and centre lights

So far, the airport has replaced 20 lights at the edge of two taxiways by LEDs of only 2.8 Watt, compared with the old 65 Watt halogen fittings. In addition, tests are being made with the so-called centre light – the light line at the centre of the runway. The airport is currently testing a number of models to find the best-performing ones.

Among other things, the light fittings must be weather-resistant, also during the winter when large and heavy snow-clearing equipment is used.

“It is essential that the LEDs can meet our requirements. We are not going to make any decisions on changing to less power-consuming light sources until we are 100 per cent sure that the new lights will not disrupt operations,” says Kristian Kongstad.

In addition to saving energy, the LEDs also last longer than halogen fittings. In principle, the new fittings in the manoeuvring area can burn for more than 50,000 hours before they must be replaced.  This means that the fittings can be used for up to ten years, as opposed to the present fittings which need replacement every two-three years.

Obstruction lights
The airport is also moving from incandescents  to LED in other areas.  The airport is currently replacing 150 so-called obstruction lights – the red lights warning air traffic about tall buildings and masts – by LED at the airports in Copenhagen and Roskilde.  While the traditional light sources for obstruction lights are 80 Watt, the new LEDs are only 9.6 Watt. This results in an annual saving of 92,000 kilowatt hours, equal to 52 tonnes of CO2. To this should be added the operational advantages of a useful life of between 50,000 and 100,000 hours, compared with a useful life of the present fittings of around 2,000 hours.

Terminal lighting
The terminal areas, which account for most of the energy consumption at Copenhagen Airport, are also increasingly shifting to LED lighting. Hence, LED has been installed at a number of toilets where the previous 50 Watt fittings have been replaced by 5 Watt LED fittings.

“As in the manoeuvring area, we have strict requirements to indoor lighting in the airport’s special environment.   We must consider the passengers’ safety and comfort, as well as our many collaboration partners’ working environment and other needs. So far, the supply of LED has been limited and has not always met our requirements. But the new generations of LEDs have great potential,” says Kristian Kongstad.