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Hydro Energi Telemark in Rjukan installs LED emergency guide lights
It doesn’t take much knowledge of Norwegian history to place Hydro at Rjukan on the map.
Hydro at Rjukan is a key part of Norway’s history and cultural heritage. The stories are many and heroic, but Hydro is also a highly innovative organization. Perhaps it’s no surprise they’ve managed to remain strong since 1907.
With that in mind, we were truly honored when Svelgfoss Power Plant reached out to us with a challenge they needed help solving.
The challenge
Svelgfoss and Moflåt Power Plants had painted lines on the floors to guide people to emergency exits. However, due to heavy traffic, these lines quickly wore out, becoming expensive and time-consuming to maintain.
We were tasked with finding a solution that could effectively meet the need for marking emergency exits.
Focus on Safety
Hydro Energi complies with the Workplace Regulations §2-21 on Escape Routes and Emergency Exits. The regulation states:
«Buildings and workplaces must be designed with adequate escape routes and emergency exits, which must always be open for free passage and easily opened from the inside without special tools. In underground mining operations, there must be easily accessible exits to the surface. Escape routes and doors placed in escape routes must be sufficiently marked»
Solution
With this in mind, we were invited to inspect the facility and quickly realized that we could suggest using LED guide lights to mark the emergency exits.
Together with Svelgfoss Power Plant, we discussed various options and arrived at a solution consisting of a flexible rope that could be used both as guide lights in the tunnels and facility corridors, and also as a handrail that people could hold onto.
Svelgfoss Power Plant also had a specific requirement for the lights to automatically turn on in the event of a power outage and to stay on for at least 4 hours afterward.
We therefore designed a control cabinet tailored to this exact need. When the power is on, the batteries are charged so they are ready to provide 4 hours of capacity if the power goes out.
Result
The rope with LED guide lights was installed at a height of 10-15 centimeters in the tunnel corridors of the power plant and around the handrails.
The installation is simple and flexible, and Hydro at Rjukan no longer needs to spend time and money on maintenance, now that the rope with LED guide lights has replaced the previous safety solution.
Facts about Hydro Energi Telemark
The power plants in Telemark are Hydro’s oldest. Svelgfoss was the first to open in 1907 and was then Europe’s largest and the world’s second-largest power plant. Hydro Energi’s power plants in Telemark include Frøystul, Vemork, Såheim, Moflåt, Mæl, and Svelgfoss.
Although all the facilities have been significantly modernized, Hydro’s hydropower plants are still located at the same six sites today.
When it opened, Vemork was the largest power plant of its kind in the world and is now partly converted into the Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum. However, Vemork remains active and is the third-largest power plant. The energy produced at the power plants in Rjukan was initially generated for the factories that produced artificial fertilizers.
Today, renewable hydropower is used to produce renewable aluminum. Såheim power station is also protected under a decision by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, except for the turbines that are still in use and are maintained and upgraded accordingly.
The power plants Frøystul, Vemork, Såheim, Moflåt, Mæl, and Svelgfoss account for approximately one-third of Hydro’s power production in Norway.
Source: Hydro Energi Telemark
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