The US market for offshore wind is still relatively new. Like any other, the US offshore wind industry brings with it its own ways of doing business and bringing products to market, as well as its own standards, regulations and compliance issues. In this blog, our Regional Sales Manager North America, Stewart Erwin, provides an overview of the compliance work we have been working on in the background.
Worldwide, there are many different certification bodies and the US is no different. Here UL is the general standard for products to comply with, and this is unique to the US and does not equate to comparable EU or other European quality standards.
At the same time, because offshore wind is still new in the US, many of the guidelines and certification protocols are not yet defined and there can be a certain amount of confusion trying to fathom which technical standard is most appropriate to particular products or solutions.
Sabik Offshore’s vision is to be the preferred supplier of marking and lighting systems for offshore wind worldwide, and so we had to apply our expertise and inventiveness to working out the best approach for this new market sector.
Over the past 18 months, we’ve been working intensely to answer these questions:
- Which UL guidelines pertain to our products?
- Do we need to certify our products to UL?
- When does or will UL apply?
As you can imagine, the answer is more nuanced that we first thought. We determined that a UL listing is not absolutely necessary for our marine lanterns and ID sign lights, partly because we could not find a direct standard that applies to these kinds of lights. We did, however still feel compelled to ensure that if UL compliance was required, we would comply to the closest UL standard possible.
This led to us examining UL 1598 Standard for Lighting/Luminaires is the closest that could apply to our products. We worked with an independent UL certified testing laboratory (under UL’s Third Party Test Program – TPDTP) to test our products according to this standard.
We are proud to say that we have successfully passed all tests and our Marine Lantern and ID Sign Light comply with UL 1598.
We are happy to provide this certificate upon request to verify customer compliance requirements.
Sabik Offshore’s vision is to be the preferred supplier of marking and lighting systems for offshore wind worldwide, and so we had to apply our expertise and inventiveness to working out the best approach for this new market sector.
By loading the video, you agree to YouTube's privacy policy.
Learn more
The ability to navigate in and around wind farms is incredibly important to maintain a safe offshore environment. Lighting and marking offshore wind farms helps prevent collisions and means that workers and Search & Rescue Teams can travel safely amongst turbines. At Sabik Offshore, making the unpredictable offshore environment a safe place to navigate is our top priority. We have created a series of videos about the importance of marking offshore wind farms. Take a look.
Sabik Offshore is delighted to sponsor the 2022 International Offshore Wind Partnering Forum (IPF), taking place April 26-28 in Atlantic City, NJ. Hosted by the Business Network for Offshore Wind, IPF connects global leaders and businesses in the supply chain, offers unparalleled networking to help grow your business, and delivers breaking updates on the industry. With the rapid expansion of offshore wind, IPF attendance helps secure your place as a leader in the industry. Get the details 2022ipf.com and click this link to book in to meet with us.
