In partnership with the manufacturers of caterpillar generators, Mantrac, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has assured that there will be no more power outage at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.
Besides, the agency has re–routed most of its cables that pass through the construction site, a measure it says would put paid to incessant blackout at the terminal finally.
The managing director of FAAN, Mr. Saleh Dunoma stated this in Lagos at the weekend when he and his management played host to Mantrac Caterpillar’s vice president for Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East Distribution Division, Mr. Raymond Chan.
Dunoma who was represented by FAAN’s director of maintenance and engineering, Mr. Femi Ogunode assured airport users, airlines and stakeholders that the era of power failure at the airport was over.
He said the visit by Mantrac, manufacturers of the six generators at FAAN Power House, was part of the management’s response to find lasting solution to the incessant power outage at the international gateway.
He said the six standby generators are capable of generating 24 megawatts of electricity adding that each of them produces four megawatts.
“The Caterpillar people that came to visit us are the manufacturers of these equipment; so their visit further gives the assurance, not just to us but also to the populace and the stakeholders that we have the backup system. In case of any (power) failure be assured that these generators will perform,” he said.
He added that Chan’s visit was an indication that there was hope for the sector in terms of power improvement. “It goes a long way to say that the relationship between us has been fruitful and the equipment can stand the test of time .Not only did they come, we also used them in their presence and even in Abuja facilities we have it as well. So, just to assure the public that there is really nothing to worry about. We may have hiccups here and there but surely power outage is a thing of the past.”
Dunoma gave a possible insight into what could have been responsible for the frequent power outages at the airport saying: “It could be as a result of system failure on the entire network in the nation and at times we have construction work going on…which often leads to our cables being cut and in response to that, we use these generators as backups.”
Speaking after the inspection, Chan expressed satisfaction with what he saw at FAAN’s power house.
“I am extremely excited… I am very happy with what I have seen so far. I see beautiful generator sets here. They are six units and four megawatts each and they produce 24 megawatts for FAAN and I am very proud together with the dealers Mantrac that we have the opportunity to provide our service to Nigeria especially for a very important infrastructure, providing critical standby power to airport,” he said.
