LED lighting solution for Nigeria’s commercial airports

8th June 2016

BEKA Schréder has supplied an LED lighting solution to illuminate the aprons of six out of sixteen commercial airports in Nigeria currently being upgraded to international lighting standards. The other ten will be completed before the end of this year.

Nigeria’s commercial airports have come under pressure from the international aviation industry in recent years since the apron lighting has been considered to be one of the worst in the world. Pilots and aviation specialists have been complaining about the lack of sufficient lighting to international standards. The pressure grew over recent years since air traffic almost doubled within the past five years in Nigeria’s airports. Due to this pressure, the decision was made to upgrade the apron lighting to comply with international standards.

BEKA Schréder has supplied the OMNIstar high-power LED floodlight to the commercial airports in Lagos International (Murtala Muhammed International Airport), Lagos Domestic, Abuja (Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport), Port Harcourt (Port Harcourt International Airport), Kano (Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport) and Kaduna (Kaduna Airport). 

BEKA Schréder’s Application Department, which uses the latest state-of-the-art lighting design software, managed to provide a world-class lighting solution, not only improving existing light levels and uniformities, but also reducing energy consumption by almost 38% compared to their previous usage. Due to financial constraints and the urgency of this project, it was suggested that BEKA Schréder makes use of existing masts which led to additional challenges to compliances of levels and uniformities.

BEKA Schréder has supplied the luminaires, and managed and commissioned the projects. The OMNIstar 470W LED floodlight was supplied. The OMNIstar has been designed to provide an unrivalled combination of performance and flexibility for lighting areas where high lumen packages are needed while offering maximum savings in energy and maintenance costs with a short payback time. With on-site photometric adjustment, the OMNIstar guarantees the perfect lighting to ensure safety and comfort. It offers a real alternative to luminaires equipped with high-power traditional sources, with the added advantages of an LED solution: low energy consumption, improved visibility with white light, limited maintenance and longer life.

For this project, the OMNIstar was supplied with incorporated 20kV surge protection to protect the floodlight from the intermittent power cuts and excessive spikes in voltage of reticulation systems in Nigeria. To ensure long lasting performance, electronic temperature monitoring prevents overheating of the LEDs and power supply (ThermiX®). Because of the nature of LEDs, instant switch on/off is an added benefit, eliminating the possibility of long start-ups after a power outage.

After the first installation at Kaduna Airport, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria embarked on a national rollout for all major commercial airports. The completion of this prestigious project is foreseen to be before the end of this year.

For further information, contact Jean-Marc Degueldre at j.degueldre@beka-schreder.co.za