Louis Berger and American Samoa Power Authority replace power grid capacity lost to 2009 tsunami
The new Satala power plant in American Samoa provides resilient and reliable power to one of the world's most remote islands while providing a bridge to renewables
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa, and MORRISTOWN, N.J., June 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Louis Berger Power, in partnership with its client American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA), officially opened the new Satala power plant in American Samoa's Pago Pago Harbor. The plant will replace a plant that was destroyed by a September 2009 tsunami after a powerful earthquake occurred off the coast of Tonga.
As part of the tsunami recovery effort, Louis Berger Power was hired by ASPA in 2013 to build a more efficient and resilient power plant that would have the capacity to power the entire Tutuila Island, the main island of American Samoa.
"The most important part of this project was our ability to provide reliable energy to our customers. Before, there was insufficient capacity for the industry in the Bay Area and on the east side of Tutuila," said Utu Abe Malae, executive director of ASPA. "The reliability and affordability of our power supply will give our people a high standard of living and our manufacturers confidence that they can do business here without interruption."
The Satala plant is designed to withstand the challenges that American Samoa can present, including earthquakes, typhoons, flooding, high humidity and corrosive salt air. Other new features include the plant's new higher elevation on engineered fill, an eight-foot flood wall with water-tight flood doors, and acoustic noise reduction measures.
Louis Berger Power and ASPA also worked closely together to minimize the environmental impact of the new plant. In addition to the low-emissions power generators, the site civil design incorporates all water run-off through two separate oil water separation systems before ocean discharge, while the building roof design includes a rainwater harvesting system.
"This plant will provide the American Samoan people with a more efficient and more resilient plant to power their future," said Frank Jordano, president, Louis Berger Power. "Not only will this plant withstand a future tsunami similar to the 2009 event, but it will potentially save millions of dollars per year in avoided fuel costs, which should ease the high cost of electricity while delivering more economic opportunity for the American Samoan people."
The challenge of resiliency and reliability was coupled with the overarching goal of keeping American Samoa on track to source 100 percent of its power from renewable energy sources by 2040, as other islands in the region aspire to accomplish.
Louis Berger established Louis Berger Power as a limited liability corporation focused on providing turnkey power generation and distribution solutions where rapid, reliable or remote power is required. The company has been operating in America Samoa since 2013 when it began construction on a 24.5MW baseload power plant.
Click here to see a photo of the completed Satala power plant. Click here to see a photo of Ute Abe Malae, American Samoa Power Authority executive director, offering comments at the dedication of the new Satala power plant in American Samoa's Pago Pago Harbor.
About Louis Berger
Louis Berger is a $1 billion global professional services corporation that helps infrastructure and development clients solve their most complex challenges. We are a trusted partner to national, state and local government agencies; multilateral institutions; and commercial industry clients worldwide. By focusing on client needs to deliver quality, safe, financially-successful projects with integrity, we are committed to deliver on our promise to provide Solutions for a better world.
Louis Berger operates on every habitable continent. We have a long-standing presence in more than 50 nations, represented by the multidisciplinary expertise of 6,000 engineers, economists, scientists, managers and planners.
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