OREANDA-NEWS. Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), the global leader in lighting, is the first lighting company to receive accreditation as an Energy Service Company (ESCO) in Dubai. The ESCO accreditation scheme was developed by the Regulatory and Supervisory Bureau (RSB) to regulate the ESCO market and provide cities with a broad range of energy solutions from design and implementation of energy-savings projects, to retrofitting, energy conservation, managing power generation and energy supply and outsourcing energy infrastructure.

As part of the accreditation, Philips was awarded a lighting refurbishment project by Etihad-ESCO in January 2015 to install retrofit LED lighting within 262 power plant buildings owned by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA).

Philips will implement and maintain the lighting infrastructure for all DEWA buildings for a period of five years, with overall energy savings on the buildings’ electricity and water usage expected to reach 1.7 terawatt annually, equivalent to the energy consumed by 11,500 households. This meets targets set by the ‘Green Economy for Sustainable Development’ and is aligned with Dubai’s Integrated Energy Strategy to reduce energy consumption by 30% by 2030.

“The Middle East is the second region after China where we have received accreditation as an ESCO which is a key milestone allowing us to enter and compete in a new domain of services,” said Rami Hajjar, General Manager of Philips Lighting Middle East & Africa. “Philips encourages the use of energy-efficient lighting through the introduction of the most innovative technologies in the lighting industry and these are now available to Dubai through the ESCO model.”

ESCO accreditation applicants need to provide sufficient evidence on the required energy auditing capabilities and tools to handle ESCO projects, as well as share reference projects, demonstrate financial strength and a strong presence in Dubai. Philips meets all required criteria decreed by the RSB and can now support Dubai’s vision to become an internationally-recognized energy-efficient city.