Aggreko signals readiness to help in Japan

Aggreko said it is ready to help Japan in the aftermath of last Friday's earthquake.

A spokesman for the power rental company told IRN that it was ready to respond and could "do whatever needs to be done" to provide temporary back-up power. The company has been in contact with the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

Aggreko has a track record of supplying large temporary power installations at relatively short notice. For example, last year it provided 200 MW of temporary power to a power utility company in Bangladesh to make up for shortfalls in the national grid.

It has undertaken similar projects worldwide, and including American Samoa, Indonesia and several African countries.

The company does not have a permanent office in Japan and currently has no power rented in the country, but it has worked there before, chiefly to supply 15 MW of power during the 2002 Japan/South Korea World Cup tournament.

Temporary power will be vital in Japan as it seeks to rebuild communities devastated by the tsunami and to plug power gaps resulting from the emergency situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Power is currently being rationed in major urban areas in Japan.