Port Crane Fully Lit by LED Floodlights Begins Work at the Port of Valencia

TCV Stevedoring Company S.A., the container terminal in Valencia belonging to Grup TCB, reinforces its commitment to its environmental policy. In line with its environmental management system, EMAS, it has recently purchased and implemented the first STS Super Post Panamax crane in the world, lit entirely with LED technology.

This solution was developed and provided by Ingeniería de Aplicaciones Energéticas S.L., (EDAE), whose products offer superior performance, quality and reliability. The implementation is part of the TCV goal of providing the best possible service to its customers, with an experienced team, the latest technology and taking advantage of Valencia's geographical location.

The new TCV gantry crane is for loading and unloading containers. It weighs 1,600 tonnes and is 70 meters high and 134 meters long. It is 44 meters high under the spreader and is capable of working with vessels with a capacity of up to 14,000 containers.

The new Super Post Panamax equipment is lit by LED floodlights at several power ratings up to 400 watts, located at various heights up to 68 meters, depending on specific lighting needs. It also has 10 and 22 watt LED tubes with vibration damping technology for transit areas and technical rooms on the crane. With this initiative, TCV, together with EDAE, has managed to increase the useful life, savings and return on investment associated with this type of machinery.

Each High Flux LED floodlight, with various different power ratings, replaces one of the 250, 400 or 1000 W High Pressure Sodium Vapour lamps of the original project, providing the lighting levels required at the terminal, improving light uniformity and achieving energy savings of 66% with respect to the original design.

Changing from yellow to white light leads to increases in both safety and productivity in operations as it improves the perception of distance and therefore the speed of approach to the loading and unloading area.

Investment in these engineered luminaires makes it possible to incorporate and integrate flow management devices and adapt artificial light according to need at sunset and dawn, maintaining constant light levels and enabling improved savings ratios.

After pre-testing and the decision to adopt this solution for the STS crane under construction, TCV has also built it into other STS cranes, in their spreaders up to 40 meters, to improve the availability of container operating capacity, and to avoid the drawbacks and cost overruns caused by premature failure of the 1000 W bulbs due to vibration during movement of the vehicle carrying the container.

So far TCV has installed 58 400 W floodlights, as well as others with lower ratings of 210 and 180 W. These 58 floodlights provide annual savings in CO2 emissions of 94 tonnes.

This provides TCV with a lighting installation with more efficient, reliable and secure power and performance for its commitment to the environment, in accordance with the requirements of its Operating and Investment policy.

EDAE, after several years of analysis of LED technology and of over 250 local and international manufacturers, represents, provides technical support and develops projects with 5-year manufacturing guarantees, with high standards of reliability and quality, additional security measures with respect to excess temperature and voltage, and possesses more than 29 patents with a further 80 pending.