Together, companies developed the largest public lighting project in Latin America
The smart cities concept is increasingly real in Brazil and we don't have to go far to experience it, just look at the lights in the city of Belo Horizonte, the first municipality in the country to implement an intelligent public lighting project. The transformation was driven by the change in legislation that encouraged city halls to seek public-private partnerships to comply with ANEEL Normative Resolution No. 414, of September 9, 2010.
To assist in this process, BHIP, a public lighting concessionaire in the capital of Minas Gerais, entered into a partnership with Logicalis, a global information and communication technology solutions and services company. Together, they had the mission of guaranteeing the availability and quality of service, through the modernization of BH's lighting park, which had high costs related to energy consumption and constant maintenance. For this, the companies revolutionized the operation of lighting in the city, automating more than 30,000 points, around 20% of the park.
Through remote management, based on smart grid and IoT concepts, it is possible to remotely monitor the entire city's lighting system. With the technology, the city receives real-time information to take preventive decisions and take predictive actions. In this way, even before being notified about failures in public lighting, it is possible to proactively start solving the problem.
The first step in making telemanagement a reality was the replacement of photoelectric sensors with controllers, which work like an antenna sending information about the light point to the management software. Remotely controlled by a utility operator, the system integrates all the data captured by the sensors, thus enabling a more accurate decision-making process and, consequently, sending commands to the lighting poles.
With these solutions, there is an improvement in the management of the city's energy supply, as the technology allows, for example, to adjust the intensity of street lighting according to demand, as well as turning on and off the lamps remotely, based on the information issued by the sensors. This will contribute to a reduction of approximately 45% in electricity consumption, which can represent annual savings of R$ 25 million to the city. An increase in the sense of security is also expected, as on brighter streets, nighttime accidents and crime tend to decrease.
"Projects like this are a big step towards building smart cities in Brazil, as they leverage other initiatives that bring improvements to the city and its citizens, who instantly realize the benefits of simple actions, such as switching to more efficient light bulbs and quick maintenance of lighting points. Not to mention the benefits for the concessionaire, which has a quick return on its investment and greater efficiency in the operation", says Carlos Simionato, a consultant specialized in utilities at Logicalis.
With the complete modernization of public lighting, which will take place until October 2020, the municipality will also be able to implement a series of new technologies that will benefit other segments of society, such as traffic, through connected traffic lights and intelligent parking, and the medium environment, with environmental management solutions.
"This is a complex process that requires strategic work and great responsibility. The partnership with Logicalis was essential to guarantee the quality of the service, as well as to face the challenges that will arise during this pioneering project in the country", says Marcelo Bruzzi , president of BHIP.
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