Oulu Airport parking area, Oulunsalo

A high-class white LED lighting at an airport parking area

Finavia Corporation maintains a network of 25 airports in Finland and is constantly striving towards more efficient energy usage. One part of this work is to seek for new and ever more environmentally friendly solutions for the illumination of the airports and their surroundings. Mercury vapor lamps, which will be banned from sale due to poor energy efficiency by fall 2015, are still used in many cases for illuminating the airports' parking areas. 

During the Oulu Airport reparation and enlargement project, the parking lot and its lighting were renewed as well. Since the end of 2010, the P1-parking area, located directly in front of the terminal building, has been illuminated with Valopaa's LED light fixtures.  

There are numerous reasons to use LED lights at the Oulu Airport. Finavia's electrical engineer, Oskari Moisio, says that the company wants to be a forerunner when it comes to technological advancement - this applies to illumination as well. That is why getting to know LED technology and the opportunities it has to offer is of great importance.

“Previously we have used occasional LED lights, but we wanted to have more experience in illuminating a bigger entity with LEDs´, he explains.

In Moisio's opinion, the Oulu Airport's P1-parking area is very suitable for this purpose.

“The area is not too big or too small, just the right size for a pilot project. In addition, LED lighting at the airport is well supporting the image of Oulu as a technology city. The fact that the light fixture supplier is a local company, is excellent´, he says. 

Finavia wants not only energy saving but also high quality and cost efficient solutions. According to Moisio, the airport's parking area now has a white coloured lighting of a high level – just what was expected. The fact that Valopaa could present the cost estimate for the whole life cycle was of great importance. The calculations show that a slightly bigger investment will be paid back over time, thanks to smaller maintenance costs.

Finavia has all kinds of luminaries in use, including mercury vapor lamps, metal-halide lamps, sodium vapor lamps and LEDs, at different sites around the country. In coming years, because of the ban of mercury vapor lamps, there will be a severe need for renovation in different outdoor spaces, for example in parking areas.

“We are following the development of lighting technology. When renovations are current, lighting decisions will be made case by case. LEDs will, without doubt, be one of the options.´, Moisio estimates. 

Oulu Airport, Lighting of parking area P1
Light fixtures: Valopaa's VP1302 M6 55W and VP1302 M6+M6 110W