Russia's Hermitage switches to LED lighting

The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg will be getting an energy-efficient lighting facelift with the aid of Royal Philips Electronics, under an agreement signed today.

By replacing lamps in the Menshikov Palace and install LED lighting in the Carriage Yard, Philips expects to help the Hermitage reduce its energy costs by 55 percent. Both upgrades are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Philips has had a working relationship with the Hermitage since 1898, when it supplied the Winter Palace with 50,000 carbon-filament light-bulbs.

“For Philips, this is yet another opportunity to help support Russia in saving its great cultural legacy,” said Joost Leeflang, CEO of Philips in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Central Asia. “In the Netherlands we have always had a special connection to the Hermitage, as the museum was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great purchased a collection of Flemish and Dutch paintings.”