Sharjah saves power
through light festival

Dismissing the concerns of residents about the shortage of electricity, Mohammed Al Noman, Director-General of the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), said that daily electricity consumption in the 12 locations, where the festival is being held, had come down by an average of 51 per cent (about 321 kilowatts) during the fun and culture spectacle. The nine-day extravaganza, which includes a series of light, colour and music shows, is estimated to save 2,889kw of electricity in the emirate. “We were keen to hire the best of international companies and experts using the latest energy-saving lighting technology and methods that helped us stage a world-class event of this kind using very little electricity or power in real terms,” he stated.

According to statistics provided by the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA), he said, the consumption of electricity was reduced by 51 per cent during the light shows. While the average electricity consumption at the locations before the festival stood at 656kw, it came down to 335kw during the nine-day event.

Sharjah residents were unhappy about the festival, thinking it would consume lot of energy that could have been saved for the difficult days. The SEWA statistics show that Al Maghfirah mosque registered a whopping 70 per cent decrease in power consumption while Al Noor mosque, the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation and Palm Oasis have recorded around 50 per cent decrease in energy consumption. Other venues of the light festival registered power-saving that varied from 25 to 50 per cent.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com