U.S. bolsters Yokota Air Base defenses with microgrid

WASHINGTON -- In one of the Pentagon's largest contracts for base "hardening," the U.S. Air Force has installed an independent power grid at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo that enables the base to go into "island mode" if the main energy source is taken out by a cyberattack or missile.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday to commemorate the completion of a 10-megawatt combined heat-and-power (CHP) plant and microgrid. The $406 million contract tasked French energy management company Schneider Electric with installing the facility over a four-year period. Schneider will place staff on the base over the next 21 years to ensure that the system will provide energy without disruption.