InterOil Corporation was founded in 1997 and the company now supplies more than 60% of PNG’s refined petroleum products. In the early 2000s InterOil acquired the assets of Shell and BP in PNG and commenced the construction of a refinery at Napa Napa, near Port Moresby.One of the challenges facing InterOil in setting up the refinery would be to gain access to sufficient power to illuminate work areas in a safe and reliable manner. Solar power would have been an attractive option to the decision makers who were planning the refinery.
In 2011 InterOil ordered 24 EG Series solar powered area lights to illuminate work areas and surge ponds both at the refinery plus at the upstream exploration and production areas. These lights were equipped with LEDway 40 fixtures and programmed with an operating profile of dusk till dawn.
The company were obviously very satisfied with the performance of the EG Series because in 2012 they ordered an additional 16 units for the staff accommodation village. These lights also included the LEDway 40 set up for dusk till dawn operation. In addition Orion supplied 16 x 6m poles and foundation cages.
The EG-320 ordered by InterOil fits in the middle of the EG-Series range of solar powered lights with a maximum lumen output of 5,820 lumens. The next model is the EG-340
at 10,700 lumens followed by the EG-500 at 12,750 lumens. The EG-320s have an operating life of over 20 years with maintenance limited to cleaning the solar panel and battery replacement approximately every 5 years.
The following graphic is a lighting plot of the EG Series solar lights installed in the accommodation area.