by Brianna Crandall — July 30, 2012—EDF, an official partner and the electricity supplier for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, has unveiled its Visi real-time energy monitoring system among other energy initiatives for the international Games, which are being held July 27 to August 12 and August 29 to September 9, 2012.
EDF Energy will be providing electricity for all the facilities in the Olympic park including the sports infrastructures (stadium, velodrome, swimming pool, etc.), as well as the Olympic Village. One of the U.K.’s largest energy companies and its largest producer of low-carbon electricity, EDF is powering the Games with electricity backed by low-carbon sources: 80% of the low-carbon electricity will come from EDF’s existing nuclear fleet, with the remaining 20% coming from renewable generation assets. The company hopes that this will encourage consumers to think about how their electricity is generated and the carbon emissions associated with its generation.
The Visi technological innovation will allow organizers to optimize and monitor, in real time, the energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the Olympic park. All of the results are available on the Power the Games live Web site as well as on a smartphone app. The intelligent data display brings viewers a unique control panel for monitoring the key sites of London 2012 in real time, answering such questions as “Which uses more electricity, Tower Bridge or the Olympic Stadium?” and “How do the capsules on the EDF Energy London Eye stay cool in summer and warm in winter?” and “How much energy does the Aquatics Centre or Velodrome use on any given day?
EDF Energy started lighting up two of London’s iconic landmarks early, the London Eye and Tower Bridge. Thanks to the electricity supply and the advice and technical installations provided by EDF, Tower Bridge has reportedly already reduced its energy consumption by 40%. The company will be measuring the nation’s reactions to the Olympics on Twitter to create the world’s first social media driven lightshow on the EDF Energy London Eye every night at 9pm.
EDF has also created a converter, designed as an educational tool for the general public and to explain EDF’s efforts to generate the cleanest and cheapest electricity possible, which gives users the real price of electricity. Users choose daily purchases and find out how long they could power electrical appliances for the same price. In just a click, users will discover how a baguette costs the same as 11 days of using a desktop computer, and a can of soda is worth the same as the electricity needed for 11 loads in a washing machine.
For more details of these and other EDF Energy initiatives at this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, visit the company’s London 2012 Web site.
