The power behind the critical moments
This article first appeared in the Spring 2008 issue
A British sponsor of the Beijing Olympics explains how it plans to fulfil its responsibility of supplying power for the crucial aspects of the Games
Major events such as the Olympic Games require significantly higher quantities and different patterns of consumption than a city typically requires. A constant and reliable source of power is essential to ensure that the event is broadcast and lit effectively, and that the timings of athletes are recorded accurately.
Aggreko is currently sending equipment over to China for the Olympic Games To be confident that they can achieve this, events organisers must have a reliable source of additional temporary power. UK company Aggreko provided temporary power for the Olympic Games from 1988 in Seoul until Atlanta 1996, after which General Electric won the contract. Since its acquisition of GE Energy Rentals for USD 212m (GBP 109m) in September 2006, Aggreko is now set to supply critical temporary power for the 2008 Olympics, which it is also sponsoring.
As well as enabling it to renew ties with the biggest event in the world, this acquisition bolstered Aggreko’s resources of expert personnel. Debajit Das, director of major accounts at Aggreko joined the company from GE. “Basically the team that was running GE’s events business came along, so now we have the experience that Aggreko had over the years coupled with GE’s recent experience,” he says. “We have got the experience of all the recent Games; we have lived and breathed these challenges, because every Olympic Games is different.”
The value of the contract to power Beijing 2008 is estimated to be USD 35m (GBP 18m). Under the contract, Aggreko will provide up to 160 MW of power across 40 Olympic venues in six cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Qingdao, Qinhaungdao and Tianjin.
The power will be provided by generators located at each venue and distributed through over 300km of cable and 2,000 distribution panels. Aggreko is employing around 200 staff on the contract to install, maintain and operate the equipment.
Year Host City Temporary power supplier
1988 Seoul Aggreko
1992 Barcelona Aggreko
1996 Atlanta Aggreko
2000 Sydney GE Energy Rentals
2004 Athens GE Energy Rentals
2008 Beijing Aggreko
Lights, cameras, action
Lights over the field of play ensure that athletes can perform at their best irrespective of atmospheric lighting conditions – but lighting is a major consumer of power. “It is very important to ensure that the power supply is continuous. It doesn’t matter which city you are in; fifty per cent of the power for those lights comes from an alternative source, which is generators,” Das says.
The biggest consumer of power at the games is broadcasting. “You might have 80,000 people sitting in the stadium, but you will have two billion watching the event. So the broadcasters – the ‘big brothers’ of the games – need to get it right. Broadcasting is almost 80 per cent of what we will do in Beijing. We will be providing 140 to 150 MV of power.”
An equally important consumer of power is the technology that records the performances of the athletes. “Athletes have been training for years for that one hundredth of a second. Anything that records their timing cannot go wrong.”
Powering unique performances
Aggreko is not providing all the temporary power for Beijing – only the critical power. Das says: “If we lose power in the facilities in the athletes’ village, we can live with it, but where you don’t want to lose it is at the Games. So we are providing power for the ceremonies, for the field of play where the athletics takes place and for the broadcasting.”
Quality is as important as quantity when it comes to supplying power for the sound and vision extravaganzas that open and close an Olympic Games. “A lot of power is required for the opening and closing ceremonies, but it is the quality of power that is required, because you have all the spectaculars and you cannot put that kind of load on a utility – you have lights going up and down – anything that fluctuates is not good for a steady system.”
The calibre of performance at the opening and closing ceremonies is as high as that of the athletics events and their importance is just as significant for broadcasting. “There are some famous Oscar winners involved in the music production and ceremonies for Beijing. They need to get that right, and nothing would work if the power wasn’t there.”
Installation and transmission
Das says: “Sometimes people do not understand our scope and extent of involvement. It’s not just providing the generator. Even if the power comes from utilities, we are the ones who are delivering it to the camera. The camera needs power to make sure they can do want they want to do.”
This all requires careful planning. “This philosophy of where the power comes from is decided and then we build in a distribution system to make sure that the end power is always there, irrespective of whether you have the utility or not.”
The planning stage is complete for Aggreko’s presence at the 2008 Olympic Games. “Beijing is complete in terms of design: we are now sending the equipment over. We normally tend to take units that have been used already for 500 hours or so, because you don’t want start-up troubles.”
Temporary, sustainable power
Like all power suppliers, Aggreko is looking at ways to make its business more environmentally sustainable. “There are things that we are doing on the generators themselves to reduce the emission levels. There are number of technologies – catalytic converters are one of them, as well as alternative fuels and improving the efficiency of combustion.”
The organisers of London 2012 are placing great emphasis on sustainability. “We don’t have a contract with London 2012, but we are in a very advanced state of discussion for a gas generator. We are engaged in finding solutions that are greener.”
But ultimately, providing power at the critical moment is the number one priority for Aggreko. “The sustainability discussion is good on paper, but first it needs to work. You need to get something that solves the problem. You also need to be practical. When the world’s greatest are running the hundred metres race, a blip in power is not acceptable. We need to get the broadcasting right, as China will be watching. At 8 AM on the 8th of the 8th 2008, the power has to be there.”
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