Lighting specialist Glamox has secured contracts from electrical contractors working for three yards to provide connected marine lighting and light management systems for 11 offshore High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) converter platforms.
The HVDC platforms are being built for grid operator TenneT as part of its 2 GW North Sea program. The contracts represent Glamox’s largest marine lighting project to date, in which it will provide more than 38,000 marine lights with advanced systems to control, test, and monitor them.
TenneT specified the design of the HVDC platforms and commissioned various yards for their construction. Glamox’s framework contracts are with Petrofac, which will build six platforms, Seatrium, which will build three, and McDermott, which will build two.
The offshore platforms will convert AC electricity generated by wind farms off the coast of the Netherlands and Germany into high-voltage DC electricity. The DC electric power will be transmitted through submarine and land cables to onshore substations, where it will be converted back into AC electricity and fed into the electricity grid systems.
Glamox will provide a comprehensive package of approximately 3,500 marine lights for each platform, including floodlights and other external lighting, as well as interior lighting for stairwells, corridors, walkways, ladders, and crew quarters. The company will also supply explosion-proof lighting for potentially hazardous environments, such as plant rooms, along with battery-powered emergency lighting for the platforms.
The lighting will be delivered in phases starting at the end of 2025.
“This is the largest offshore lighting project we’ve ever won and speaks volumes for the reputation of our marine smart lighting systems to be chosen for this groundbreaking project.
“In the future, most offshore platforms will be unmanned and automated. Glamox is already pioneering the use of smart lighting and light management systems for mostly unmanned oil and gas platforms and ships. Now we are extending this capability to the offshore wind industry,” said Astrid Simonsen Joos, Group CEO of Glamox.