Creating light at the end of the tunnel

Installing temporary tunnel lighting has long been a time-consuming task. The equipment is heavy, and cables and other components often fail because they are used in harsh, highly humid conditions.

Porsgrunn-based company Exentric has been working to solve these challenges. It has developed an interconnection system focused on light quality, durability and safety. The lighting equipment is lighter, making it easier to install and remove.

'The company has a strong understanding of the industry and is developing its solution in close collaboration with the customer. This will help it target the market more effectively when launching the product. The project will have a positive environmental and social impact by improving safety for tunnel workers, while the system can also be reused,' says Marte Lønnebakke, financing advisor at Innovation Norway.

With the help of a market clarification grant from Innovation Norway, the company gained valuable input for developing its prototype and secured market validation through an agreement to test it with NCC Infrastructure – one of the Nordic region's leading tunnel construction companies.

We have been an important partner throughout the development process, and Exentric particularly highlights our mentoring programme.

'It is extremely useful to have someone to bounce ideas off who sees the project from a different perspective. Innovation Norway's mentoring programme has made an important contribution to our business development, and it is a service I would recommend to others,' says Dag Jonassen, CEO of Exentric.

The company, based at Herøya Industrial Park in Porsgrunn, found a solution close to home when the coronavirus pandemic once again prevented it from testing the prototype abroad – this time in the Faroe Islands.

The lighting system is now being tested in a tunnel beneath the industrial park instead. Jonassen praises Herøya Industrial Park for its support and for facilitating the tests, adding that being located close to the test site is very convenient. They can easily take customers into the tunnel to see the solution in action.

We have supported this phase with an innovation grant and a startup loan.

'It has been absolutely crucial for us, and development would have taken too long without this funding,' Jonassen emphasises.

The company has clear growth ambitions. It aims to become the preferred provider of traffic lights, primarily for companies building and refurbishing tunnels in Scandinavia.

The goal is to deliver 50,000 metres of the product in the first half of 2021, before expanding across Europe. The company already has supplier agreements with partners in Poland, Italy, Sweden and Finland. The international market is significant, and the product can also be used in other industries, such as the power and construction sectors.

Exentric is also an agent for Ex lighting, which includes fixed and portable lighting equipment specially designed for explosive environments such as refineries and the offshore industry. The company recently signed an agreement to supply this equipment to one of Europe’s largest refineries.