How much energy is needed for the Sochi Winter Olympics?

As we move into the second week of 2014, most of us start to veer away from our New Year’s resolutions.  (Who enjoys counting calories, anyway?)   Instead, we shift our focus toward what’s really important: the Winter Olympics! 

Hosting this year’s Games is Sochi, Russia, and in order to arrange the best Olympic Games we’ve seen, the city needs to prepare for the masses. With hundreds of thousands of people traveling to Sochi over the next few weeks, providing enough energy becomes a main concern.  Organizers of the Games are predicting roughly 1,000 MW will be needed by the time the Opening Ceremonies begin, an increase of 560 MW from the city’s typical daily load.

With such a monstrous jump in energy consumption, one can only wonder how Sochi will be able to pull it off.  According to the official Sochi Olympic website, several power stations are being built or refurbished in order to meet demand.  “This will include three new thermal power stations in Adler, Kudepst and Dzhubga.  The Sochi thermal power station, the Tuapse heating plant and the Krasnopolyanskaya hydroelectric power station will also be renovated.”  To guarantee a constant flow of energy, backup power sources will also be installed near the venues. 

Along with the updated power stations, Sochi is also going green and taking advantage of several environmentally friendly initiatives including LED lighting, solar power, air purification and decontamination systems, and the possibility of “green roof” installation. 

Once again, Dow has teamed up with the Olympic Games to provide a system of sustainable solutions in order to make Sochi a success, and the first to provide a carbon-neutral travel footprint.  Plans include projects that will work to offset the carbon emissions that occur during the transportation of athletes, spectators, and media personnel.  For Dow, the main focus is on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and protection and restoration of ecosystems. 

President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, Dmitry Chernyshenko, stated:

One of our main inspirations is to take a significant step forward to help increase environmental awareness and inspire others to do the same in Russia.  Thanks to Dow’s strong leadership and partnership, expertise and unmatched capabilities, we are delivering on our commitment to host Games with minimal impact on climate and achieving an invaluable positive impact for our country and for the Olympic Movement.

To meet this excessive amount of energy demand would require a great undertaking from any country.  Sochi seems to have an impressive strategy in place, but will it be enough?  Will you be watching how it all unfolds?  Should Sochi implement any other tactics to satisfy energy needs?

http://theenergycollective.com/sbattaglia/325831/how-much-energy-needed-sochi-winter-olympics