Responds To Power Failure At The Major Hub Last December

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta will spend $130 million to install about 20 generators at the airport in response to a power failure that shut down the airport last December.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the generators will be paid for by short-term financing that will eventually be paid back using airline rent payments.

Hartsfield-Jackson general manager Roosevelt Council said that the changes are planned to assure that there is 100 percent redundancy and "ensure that we would be able to identify where the problem is and respond a lot quicker."

The installation is expected to take about 30 months to get approvals, let contracts and complete the installation.

The December outage was caused by a fire in the airport's underground power supply, and left some 35,000 travelers in the dark, according to the report. The generators will produce 65 megawatts of power. At least two generators will be installed on each concourse designed to operate up to 48 hours. They could be refueled while running, according to airport officials.

Council said that solar generators would not be able to produce enough power unless a "humongous" solar farm was installed, and there is not enough available land at the airport for such an installation.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report