Belgium: SPIE modernises lighting at Charleroi airport, significantly enhancing air operations safety

Charleroi, Belgium, 11 February 2026 —SPIE Belgium, a subsidiary of the SPIE Group, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, announces the completion of the final phase of a major programme to modernise the lighting at Charleroi airport (BSCA). Since 2018, this project has been carried out in close partnership with SOWAER (Société Wallonne des Aéroports¹), representing one of the most significant technical undertakings for a Walloon airport platform in recent years.

A strategic project at the heart of airport safety

Although largely invisible to the general public, airport lighting is essential for ensuring the safety of air operations. It guides aircraft on the ground and during take-off and landing.

"Lighting is at the heart of airport safety. Thanks to this renovation programme, Charleroi airport now has a modern, robust and reliable infrastructure capable of sustainably supporting the operation and evolution of air traffic," explains Nicolas Dequeker, Senior Project Manager at SPIE Belgium.

As part of this project, SPIE has completely renewed the lighting power supply networks. Nearly 200 kilometres of underground cables have been replaced, including primary high voltage cables (5,000 V), secondary cables (48 V) and earth cables, as well as several thousand connectors. The next-generation cables installed as part of the project were designed to offer a significantly extended service life, thereby contributing to improved reliability and durability of the lighting systems. SOWAER has, for this part of the project, partnered with Kabelwerk Eupen, which specialises in this type of special cables.

A transition to LED: increased energy performance and reliability

Charleroi airport now has almost 100% LED lighting, which accounts for around 95% of all installed lights. In total, 2,450 lights and 200 panels have been replaced with the latest generation equipment.

This technology transition allows:

• an 80% to 85% reduction in the energy consumption of the lighting,
• a consumption level of five to eight times lower than that of the old halogen lights,
• a service life that is two to three times longer, together with significantly increased availability.

Beyond the energy gains, modernisation significantly improves operational reliability. Since the renovation of the relevant circuits, technical incidents related to the old cables have been eliminated, while they previously occurred several times a year.

A high-tech project completed without interrupting operations

One of the main constraints of the project was the specific configuration of Charleroi airport, which has only one runway.

The work was therefore carried out almost exclusively at night, in highly restricted time slots, so as to ensure that the infrastructure was fully put back into service each morning for the first commercial flights.

This work was based on rigorous organisation, the use of highly specialised teams—including a lighting team of five to six technicians, a project engineer, a draughtsman and a project manager, with additional support during the cable drawing phases—as well as the implementation of temporary technical solutions to ensure operational continuity.

All of this work carried out for SOWAER also has a five-year guarantee, including preventive and corrective maintenance.

"Thanks to this renovation programme, Charleroi airport is now equipped with one of the most reliable lighting systems in its class. We are proud to have contributed to the sustainable strengthening of the safety and operational performance of the platform," concludes Nicolas Dequeker.

Key figures

• Proportion of the lighting using LEDs: ~95%
• LED lights and panels installed: 2,650 units
• Total length of the cables replaced: ~200 km.
• Reduction in energy consumption: ~80–85%
• Decrease in energy consumption: from ~152 kW to ~25 kW
• Service life of the LED equipment: two to three times longer than halogen lights
• Estimated service life of the high-voltage cables: 15 to 20 years.
• Technical incidents affecting the renovated circuits: 0 since 2018

 _{1 -Walloon Airports Company}