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Powering the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, IOC Turns to GE to Keep the Games Running for Global Audience
Powering the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, IOC Turns to GE to Keep the Games Running for Global Audience
  • GE Supplies Power and Emergency Back Up Systems to International Broadcast Center

ATLANTA – September 14, 2016 - For 16 days in August, billions of TV and on-line viewers around the world witnessed historic, unforgettable moments of athletic achievement, determination and courage during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. In this video issued today by GE Energy Connections (NYSE: GE), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) celebrates GE for keeping the power running at its International Broadcast Center (IBC) for the global audience.

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games marked the first time GE was fully responsible for supplying electricity to the IBC, which occupied 85,000 square meters in the Olympic Park and served as the office for more than 10,000 media professionals from an estimated 180 media outlets. GE also supplied electrical distribution, controllers and emergency power back up systems, to make sure viewers enjoyed the broadcasts without interruption.

"In these events, change is constant. We have to deal with change in planning, change in implementation and change in operations," said John Paul Giancarlo, Head of Technology and Energy at the IOC. "So for example, for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, we reached out to GE a few times when we started seeing some issues with power supply in a few instances. GE responded, providing the necessary uninterruptible power supplies, professional services and expertise we needed, and we were able to solve these issues very quickly."