Glamox to light the largest offshore wind farm in the United States
Glamox has won a contract from Bladt Industries A/S of Denmark to provide lighting for 176 wind turbine transition pieces for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project. Owned and developed by Dominion Energy, and located 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, CVOW will be the largest offshore wind farm in the United States.
Glamox will provide 2,850 of its new Glamox MIR G2 WOF linear LED luminaires that will be fitted to the exterior and interior of the wind turbine transition pieces. This vital part of the construction connects the monopile foundation to the wind turbine tower and is the primary access point for servicing and maintaining the wind turbine. The marine-certified luminaires will be installed on the transition piece’s external platform, gantry, ladders, and inside the structure.
“The lighting needs to be energy efficient and, crucially, must be able to cope with harsh, wet and corrosive conditions. We demanded a secure, robust, and dependable product from a company with a track record in marine lighting as these luminaires must be able to survive the worst the Atlantic Ocean can throw at them,” said Mikkel Søndergaard, Senior Manager, Project Engineering, Bladt Industries.
“We cut our offshore teeth in lighting North Sea oil and gas rigs in the 1980s and today we’re lighting the transition to offshore wind. By 2030, there will be around 720 fixed and floating offshore wind farms globally, generating 250 GW of clean electricity; many requiring a similar number of lights as a small village,” said Astrid Simonsen Joos, Group CEO, Glamox. “When it comes to offshore wind, Glamox has the most comprehensive technical lighting portfolio for wind turbines, substations, and the different vessels needed to construct and maintain them.”
Glamox is providing its Glamox MIR G2 WOF LED luminaires which are specially designed for marine and offshore wind applications. They will be installed during fabrication by sub-contractor Scanel International A/S. This robust, impact-resistant, and watertight stainless-steel luminaire recently showed off its toughness when dropped 500m from a helicopter into a Norwegian fjord. Click here for the video.
Once fully operational, CVOW will generate 2.6 GW of clean energy, enough to power 660,000 homes. It will help to avoid the CO2 emissions equivalent to removing 1 million cars off the road each year. The wind farm is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.