Who will power the Christmas lights at São Tome?

Thanks to this temporary power plant, the inhabitants from the island can celebrate Christmas without even noticing that the power supply is in good hands of Atlas Copco Rental. Having good customer contacts, the right fleet, a good logistic support and the right attitude, this project is on its way to become an example of efficiency.

8 November, 2011

Atlas Copco Rental Brazil powers Christmas
The rather unknown Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. The country has a poor power network but decided to invest in renewing and expanding the existing installation. An Italian contractor was awarded with this project and asked Tom Deckers, Regional Rental Manager for South East Europe, if he has the equipment to foresee the island with power during the 3-4 month project. Beginning of December, the units have to be in place to be installed and commissioned, so they will be operational before Christmas. During this period they will provide power for the island's capital. With that date in mind and the fact that sailing the units to Western Africa will take some time, the project team learned they had to calculate and act fast! Tom Wouters and the colleagues at Rental Europe supported Tom in preparing the quotation and gathering all the equipment needed for the job. Actually, this week, the rental fleet has to leave the Antwerp harbour, barely two weeks after the first discussions with our customer.

So, which units are we talking about?

  • 7 x QAC 1000 ( 1000kVA generator)
  • cables low voltage
  • 2 x 20.000L fuel tanks
  • 2 x transformers 400V/30.000V
  • spare parts to allow for at least 2000 running hours of the QAC 1000

Thanks to this temporary power plant, the inhabitants from the island can celebrate Christmas without even noticing that the power supply is in good hands of Atlas Copco Rental. Having good customer contacts, the right fleet, a good logistic support and the right attitude, this project is on its way to become an example of efficiency.

For further information please contact

  • Olivia Gambin, Divisional Communication Manager Atlas Copco Specialty Rental Tel.: +32 3 750 82 87 Email:
    • Olivia Gambin, Divisional Communication Manager Atlas Copco Specialty Rental Tel.: +32 3 750 82 87 Email:
      • Olivia Gambin, Divisional Communication Manager Atlas Copco Specialty Rental Tel.: +32 3 750 82 87 Email:

        Atlas Copco is a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions. The Group serves customers with innovative compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction and mining equipment, power tools and assembly systems. Atlas Copco develops products and service focused on productivity, energy efficiency, safety and ergonomics. The company was founded in 1873, is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and has a global reach spanning more than 180 countries. In 2015, Atlas Copco had revenues of BSEK 102 (BEUR 11) and more than 43 000 employees.

        Specialty Rental is a division within Atlas Copco’s Construction Technique business area. It serves customers in the industry segments around the world with temporary air, nitrogen, steam and power rental solutions. The specialty rental services are offered under several brands. The divisional headquarters is located in Houston, USA.