Keeping critical facilities running during a hurricane
Client: Louisiana utility
Location: New Orleans
Sectors: Utilities
The Challenge
The second-most destructive hurricane in Louisiana history, Hurricane Ida made landfall on August 29, 2021, devastating Louisiana’s power grid.
Ida damaged more than 30,000 utility poles, close to 35,000 spans of wire and 5,600 transformers. Over 1 million people were left without power. As the local energy utility worked to restore electricity to neighborhoods throughout and around New Orleans, temporary power solutions were needed to keep shelters, hospitals, flood prevention pumping systems, university campuses, and residences running.
Key Facts
The Solution
Having helped the Gulf region recover from several catastrophic weather events, Aggreko is a veteran at mobilizing quickly, accelerating supply chains, protecting assets and deploying them to the right locations at the right times.
Although Hurricane Ida moved extremely quickly, Aggreko was prepared. The company mobilized assets from across the country - from Long Island to Los Angeles - and assembled them in Houston in the days leading up to landfall. It was critical to gather equipment safely outside of the hurricane strike zone, as setting it up in New Orleans or too close before the storm would only result in damaged, non-functional equipment.
The morning before landfall, the generator assets left Houston, and within 24 hours of the storm hitting, Aggreko was already powering the downtown New Orleans Convention Center, which housed National Guard emergency response teams and residents seeking shelter. From there, Aggreko spread out to get the city and surrounding parishes, including hard-hit Grand Isle, back on their feet.
Aggreko
The Impact
Aggreko was instrumental in keeping critical facilities up and running and residents safe throughout the region. Here are just a few examples:
- Aggreko partnered with the local utility to set up strategically located microgrids throughout the region, initially focusing on critical infrastructure, then hotels to serve as shelters for residents and relief workers. Work also extended to include universities, medical facilities, elderly housing, and other essential facilities, such as local fire and police stations.
- Aggreko powered the New Orleans Convention Center to provide shelter to vulnerable local residents, the National Guard, and a disaster command center.
- Aggreko powered the Sewer and Water Board of New Orleans to maintain pumping activity to relieve flooded areas and prevent further flooding, as well as to ensure clean drinking water.
- Aggreko partnered with Belfor Property Restoration to rehabilitate buildings and homes across New Orleans and help residents return home safely.
- Aggreko provided power to two key grain processing plants, enabling export companies to continue shipping critical foodstuffs that would otherwise go to waste. A stall in operations would mean a loss of $4 million in revenue for New Orleans every day. Months later, Aggreko equipment remains on site at these plants to guard against future power loss.
- Partnering with a local community and citizenship group, Aggreko provided four climate control packages with power to three separate locations in Louisiana impacted by Hurricane Ida, providing a place of safety, refuge, and recharge to residents at churches, civic centers, and libraries.