French firm Lacroix is helping upgrade Oslo’s smart public lighting infrastructure.

The Norwegian capital city Oslo aims to be at the forefront of modernity, making itself as environmentally friendly as possible. The 700,000-people city operates a public lighting network of close to 60,000 lampposts, half of which have already transitioned to LED and the remainder are to transition in the coming years.

Recently faced with energy price inflation, the city also has the ambition to make its infrastructure smarter.

Against this backdrop, it selected Lacroix to equip new LED lampposts with radio-based communication abilities. The equipment takes the form of a Zhaga communication node set on top of each lamppost, as well as a gateway module installed in corresponding electrical cabinets. It allows connected management of light points through a scalable RF communication network and enables the control and remote management of street lighting equipment.

Lacroix has partnered with a local Norwegian company providing software development as well as first-line technical and training support to offer an interoperable system with multiple benefits.

For the operator, it is now possible to monitor and control the infrastructure, enabling switching on and off of equipped lights and modulation of light intensity based on actual night-time, daytime or day of the year local needs, and preventive maintenance, whether at the city, neighbourhood or individual lamppost level. On the other hand, the city administration can offer its constituents a more attractive lighting infrastructure, optimised energy usage, reduced light pollution and effective prioritisation of infrastructure investments.

The contract has an initial duration of two years, which may be prolonged by a year twice, for a maximum duration of four years, over which a minimum revenue of €1.5m may be recorded done by equipping thousands of lampposts in the first instance.

With the award taking place in June, and inaugural order in July, first deliveries have been made and installations are underway. Lacroix expects to record the first financial impacts of this new commercial win over the course of the second half of the year.

“We’re very happy with this new contract, which showcases our increased capacity to leverage our expertise in public lighting management internationally, on large-scale projects,” said Vincent Sabot, executive managing director at Lacroix. “Not only did we secure a very significant customer at the forefront of the idea of smart city as well as a prominent reference in the whole Nordic region where we’re currently focusing much of our efforts for the city’s international expansion, but it is also a contract with very significant upside potential as the city may decide to go beyond its initial intent.”

Convinced that technology should contribute to making our living environments simpler, more sustainable and safer, Lacroix supports its customers in the construction and management of intelligent living ecosystems, thanks to connected equipment and technologies.

As a publicly-listed family-owned mid-cap, with €501m revenue in 2021, Lacroix combines the agility to innovate in an ever-changing technological sector with the ability to industrialise robust and secure equipment, know-how in industrial IoT and electronic equipment for critical applications and the long-term vision to invest and build for the future.

Lacroix designs and manufactures electronic equipment, in particular in the automotive, home automation, aeronautical, industrial and health sectors. It also provides safe, connected equipment for the management of critical infrastructure such as smart roads and the management and operation of water and energy systems.