Letter: Airport blackout

This is my comment on a recent blackout at Soekarno-Hatta International airport. It can be design up to 40, 50, 60 MW etc. This should be enough to supply for the airport’s needs. Electrical engineers would understand what I mean with regards to this matter. This is what Soekarno-Hatta should have done in the first place.

When Soekarno-Hatta blackout, the generator could not manage to supply adequate electricity supply to keep an adequate amount of power running. One question that should be asked is: was the generator tested frequently and was the diesel fuel replaced periodically? If this is not done, the fuel can go stale. So if (or when) the power is cut off, the control tower will be kaput because the generator can not possibly start up immediately.

Nowadays, any airport is supposed to be designed with three sources of power. First their own generated source of electricity, backed up by the utility company (in this case, PLN) and finally the airport must have its own back-up generator. So, if the generated source fails, PLN’s supply comes in. And if PLN fails, the generator will be activated.

This is the fail-safe mode. Didn’t anybody look at this matter objectively? International regulators could, if they wanted to, raise their case and shut down Soekarno-Hatta.

Razique
Jakarta