Chennai Airport gets power back-up facility

CHENNAI: Now Chennai airport’s runway lights won’t black out due to power outage. The airport now has a power back-up facility for ground lighting system for runways and visual aid facilities, according to Chennai Airport director G Chandramouli.

Initially, the airport, the fourth busiest in the country, serving over 18 million passengers in 2017, was dependent only on generators, said Chandramouli.In case of a power outage, the airport would lose its runway lights - key visual systems used to guide aircraft on the ground or in the process of landing or taking off, virtually eliminating a critically important navigation system and thereby creating a safety concern.

The power back-up was introduced to ensure safe landing and take-off, the airport director said. Consul Neowatt, the Global Indian UPS company, has deployed two units of 200kVA Falcon family UPS systems in parallel redundant configuration to protect as well as provide power back up to the critical ground lighting system for runways and visual aid facilities.

“The cost for deploying the two units is close to Rs 60 lakh. They are of importance at airports where traffic is dense,” said the airport director.Consul Neowatt team of engineers and technical personnel worked closely with airport engineers to deliver a dependable power back-up solution.

Interestingly, this is the second airport ground lighting system (GLS) installation for Consul Neowatt in the last six months. The company has previously supported GLS at Mangalore airport apart from emergency lighting backup for multiple airport terminals across the country.