There is now enough backup power supply to run the critical systems of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in the event of a power outage, Manila International Airport Authority officer in charge Bryan Co said on Wednesday.
However, Co said it would still be insufficient to run the terminal’s air conditioning in case of a power interruption.
“As long as we don’t install the emergency power genset that will improve the coverage for the airconditioning system… we can expect that until then, kung nangyari ulit ito (power outage), our air conditioning system will be affected,” Co told House members at the congressional inquiry on the power outage that hit in NAIA Terminal 3 on May 1.
The interruption caused flights to either be delayed or canceled.
Co said the public bidding for the three generators with two-megawatt capacity for the air conditioning will only be opened on June 15.
The NAIA Terminal 3 power outage on May 1 is the second majorpower interruption in five months since the same incident happened on New Year’s Day.
“Hindi pa po siya covered, but for the other major critical systems, covered na po siya ng existing emergency gensets. These include immigration, check-in counters, luggage… all functioning. What happened last May 1 was that check-in counters were congested due to the outage,” Co said.
With critical systems now connected to emergency gensets, Co said NAIA 3’s check-in system would continue to function even if a power outage hits.
“If a power outage happens again, the reboot system won’t take long. This has been corrected since then,” Co said.
In addition, Co assured lawmakers and the public that airport authorities are not taking the air conditioning system of the NAIA 3 for granted and are already expediting the procurement of new gensets.
“The air conditioning system is another important aspect because it affects the comfort and convenience of our passengers. That is why we are rushing the purchase of additional six-megawatt capacity gensets for our chillers,” Co said.
“By June 15, we will be opening the bid so as to increase the [existing] 30% genset coverage to include chillers which consume much of the power in NAIA Terminal 3,” he added. –NB, GMA Integrated News
