Dubai, UAE: Favourable government initiatives towards energy efficiency along with the growing uptake of the Internet of Things will see the Middle East smart lighting market more than triple in value over the next six years, reaching an estimated US$2.1 billion in 2023, a new report has revealed.
Valued at US$550 million in 2017, the Middle East smart lighting market, comprising lighting controls, fixtures, and smart bulbs, is tipped to grow at compound annual growth rate of 25 percent from 2017-2023, as increasing investments in new technologies fuel demand for connected indoor and outdoor lighting systems.
A September 2018 report by analysts TechSci Research said the emergence of LI-FI (Light Fidelity), a surging penetration of non-visible LED lighting, and growing advancements in wireless technology are also key drivers, with regional governments putting in place comprehensive smart city initiatives.
These initiatives are spearheaded by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with the two Gulf countries holding a 78 percent share (US$220 million in the UAE and US$209 million in Saudi) of the region’s smart lighting market in 2017, according to TechSci.
The market opportunities haven’t gone unnoticed by global manufacturers of smart, connected, and energy efficient lighting systems; the biggest names in the business are preparing to showcase their latest innovations to thousands of regional buyers, designers, consultants, and end-users at this month’s Light Middle East 2018 trade fair, which takes from 23-25 September at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of the three-day event’s organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East, said: “The Middle East will continue to be a major growth market for smart lighting systems, due to the existence of increasingly environmentally-aware governments and local populations.
“Large-scale regional infrastructure developments coupled with comprehensive smart city initiatives are key indicators of the market potential, while the drop in LED costs and increased demand for efficient lighting systems have kept the market in a decidedly upbeat mood,” Pauwels said.
Light Middle East is the region’s premier exhibition, conference, and awards for the lighting design and technology industries, and will feature more than 345 exhibitors from 28 countries in its 13th edition in 2018.
The rise of the digitisation of light has resulted in the introduction of Smart & Connected Lighting at the annual three-day event – a dedicated forum where trade buyers and industry professionals will attend technical presentations, live demos and workshops from leading global players involved in IoT lighting and building automation technologies.
Among the exhibitors confirmed at the new highlight include Italian Companies eelectron and iGuzzini, Ragni from France, Canadian-based LED Roadway Lighting, Ukrainian manufacturer Jooby, Nicolaudie Group from Switzerland, and Emaga Connect.
Established in 1927, Ragni is a specialist in street lighting, and has distributed its products in the UAE for the past 25 years. François Jarrossay, Co-founder of Lumen at Work, Ragni’s Middle East distributor, said the company plans to showcase its Smart Street Lighting solar bollards that come with a Wifi router, environmental reading sensors, and remote dimming controls.
“The Middle East is a true leader for smart and connected lighting concepts,” said Jarrossay. “We’ve created and launched our smart solutions for the local market, and this is definitely a key growth area for our business.
“We recently received approval from Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) for our bollard range, which is now installed in Al Awir. DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) and Dubai Municipality have also purchased the product, which was installed in Hatta last month and is ready for installation at Dubai’s new Solar Park in October 2018.”
Sylvania is another Light Middle East 2018 exhibitor that is heavily focused on smart lighting innovations and energy efficient LED technology.
As the leading brand of the Feilo Sylvania Group, Sylvania will shine the spotlight on its full spectrum of consumer, professional and architectural lighting solutions, including its SylSmart platform and street lamps for smart city concepts.
Ayhan Siriner, Syvania’s Regional General Manager in the Middle East and Turkey, said offering smart lighting concepts is a key differentiator, particularly in a regional market where competition is high.
“The Middle East is a very competitive market and the number of manufacturers and suppliers have multiplied, offering very much the same product,” said Siriner. “It’s the added value that comes with lighting solutions, and our SylSmart solution goes beyond lighting, capturing data that can be used as valuable information across a variety of applications, whether in offices, retail, or public spaces.”
Siriner said the Middle East is also very open to new smarter technology in street lighting, adding: “One of our companies provides smart poles for smart city concepts and we’re currently working on an internal project to apply this solution to other regions.
“Currently smart street lighting is mainly limited to managing the light in terms of dimming or getting light performance information from the unit back to the central headquarters to understand the maintenance schedule. But with smart street lighting we can do more than that. There’re many examples where it’s used for WIFI, CCTV, weather stations, charging positions for E-vehicles and many other options as well,” said Siriner.
Light Middle East returns in 2018 with popular highlights including THINKLIGHT – a three day conference focusing on the key areas of lighting; Light.ication, the Middle East’s only university lighting design competition; and Ready Steady Light Middle East, a live competition during the show where teams are given 90 minutes to design and install a lighting scheme with a range of provided equipment.
Other new features are Light & Design, a dedicated space showcasing the latest in decorative lighting products; and The Perfect Light, a thought-provoking documentary by Light Collective giving voice to over 20 leading lighting designers with the mission of exploring the development of light and evolution of LED.
The 6th edition of the Light Middle East Awards will again bring the curtains down on the annual showpiece event, where more than 700 industry professionals will celebrate outstanding regional and global lighting projects during a gala dinner ceremony at Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City. More information about Light Middle East is available at: www.lightme.net.