Smart city | Multifunctional lampposts planned for central Macau

CEM will be installing more multifunctional smart lampposts in San Ma Lou, according to Yue Zongbin, Chief Consultant of the Executive Committee of CEM.

As of today, CEM has already installed smart lampposts, which are being tested at the University of Macau (UM) as well as Avenida da Amizade.

“Different Macau government departments are our potential customers,” said Yue, adding “we have been keeping close communication with them.”

According to Yue, smart lampposts are a new thing to Macau. They combine traditional street lights with modern telecommunication and intelligent technologies.

Currently, the Office for the Development of the Energy Sector (GDSE) is cooperating with CEM and the local government with specific functions surrounding the installation of smart lampposts in Macau. 

The street lampposts in UM and Avenida da Amizade are currently in the experimental stages, added Yue. The tests have gone according to CEM’s expectations.

The new generation of street lights can be used to enhance the collection of real-time city data, including number and movement of pedestrians and vehicles on streets, and to help car owners find a parking space.

In regard to installing more smart lampposts across town, especially in the busier tourist areas, data is the most concerned issue for CEM.

“Some of the biggest issues concern how we are going to handle the data, who will use the data, and how can we use the data to bring new values to tourism,” said Yue.

Each year, Macau suffers from extreme weather in summer. CEM modifies the designs of the lights in view of Macau’s specific weather. Two of the major considerations when modifying the designs are humidity and typhoons.

Currently, the major manufacturers for street lights for the Macau market are from mainland China.

In terms of electrical cars, which corresponds to another project within the scope of smart cities, CEM believes that the city currently has an adequate number of charging stations.

At present, there are over 500 electrical cars in town, and approximately 170 charging stations.

“According to our statistics, actually charging stations’ usage rate is not particularly high,” informed Yue, indicating that the current number is satisfactory. “We are still evaluating places that need more charging stations. We don’t want to install charging stations that will not be used.”

Yue claimed that CEM, together with the local government, will study on ways to improve the current charging stations. JZ