Airports look not just at the capital investment, but also at the operational aspects. For example, with CEDD it is possible to make the transition from remedial to preventative maintenance. The system is noticeably smarter. It includes the option of making a forecast of what may happen, based on continuous monitoring of temperature, electricity and performance.

In contrast to traditional solutions CEDD needs no constant current controllers, transformers or primary and secondary cables to control the power supply. The system relies on a cable developed in-house especially for the CEDD solution that distributes power to individual lights using induction technology, and to send data upstream and downstream to the central base station. Switching from traditional halogen lights to LED lighting can reduce energy consumption by around 50%. The use of CEDD technology can result in an additional reduction of 15%.

European airports are also looking for ways to comply with the ‘follow the greens’ regulation. This demands rapid operation and monitoring of taxiway lighting that is not always available in traditional systems. CEDD technology reaches update speeds of under 500 ms so it can respond rapidly to signals such as stop bars and taxiway lighting. The technology is catching on and is ready for the future.