Providing urgent power after Japanese tsunami

In March 2011, eastern Japan was devastated by a magnitude-9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. About 230,000 people lost their homes, with an estimated US$300 billion in damage. The disaster seriously affected the country’s electricity supply – it needed back-up power, fast. Having worked with us during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, TEPCO turned to us for help.

Within three months – and just in time for the summer peak – we had two 100 MW power generation plants up and running. The first was a diesel-fired plant in Hitachinaka; the second, in Sodegaura, was gas-fired. Together, these plants helped to reduce the number of power shortages faced by residents and industry.

Japan got the emergency power needed to progress with rebuilding the areas devastated by the tsunami and earthquake, quickly. Our power plants were up and running fast and were able to sustain the supply of electricity to consumers and industry alike – with the flexibility to match capacity requirements at 1 MW increments.