Powering up the Beijing Olympics

National pride was at stake when China hosted its first Olympic Games, and there would be no compromise on power, lights or spectacle. We were overjoyed to be providing power for the Games, but knew it would require a gold-medal-winning performance.

The challenge would be to coordinate power across 37 locations in three different cities, and deliver on our promise of 3,600 hours of uninterrupted coverage so that every moment of Olympic action could be transmitted. It would take two years of planning, expert staff, attention to detail and a fleet of high quality equipment.

We worked closely with the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) to provide 130 MW of power to the 37 venues, each of which had its own unique requirements. We designed, installed and commissioned a power system that included 307 generators, 1,573 distribution boards and 407 km of cable, all synchronised with the local grid.

More than 30 MW was for the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) alone, which needed high-quality uninterrupted power. Broadcast license holders demanded a power supply without the fluctuations or surges that could cause noise and flickering. They wanted crystal clear transmission to more than four billion viewers worldwide.

From the moment the lights went up, to the sight of 2,008 perfectly synchronised drummers, to the final speech, power supply to the Opening Ceremony went without a hitch. Given the amount of energy consumed by the breathtaking spectacle, it was a major achievement.

Our system flawlessly powered the multinational IBC complex. Events were broadcast in their entirety with no power fluctuations or surges. BOCOG delivered on its promise to the 16,000 staff and 85 license holders to cover the games 24/7, without downtime or power failures.