Valencia Airport in Manises is currently undergoing a massive expansion project to take passenger capacity from five million people in 2006 to 15 million people in 2011, an increase of 300%.
The project is being managed by SAMPOL Ingenieria y Obras and will be completed in two phases. It will include the build of a new regional terminal, multi-storey car park, runway extension, airplane parking platform and cargo terminal. The airport will also eventually be linked to the heart of Valencia via line five of the local metro system, cutting the journey time to only fifteen minutes. The first phase of this ambitious project was completed in 2007, at a cost of €122 million, for the celebration of the America’s Cup. The second phase, to be completed by 2011, requires further investment of €13.5 million.
These improvements have meant an increase in power requirements and an increased need for backup power to ensure services are kept running smoothly. SAMPOL chose a local Cummins Power Generation dealer to supply three Cummins Power Generation C2500D5A generator sets, with QSK60 engines, to provide backup power for the airport. The Cummins products beat off competition from CAT and SDMO to secure the contract.
SAMPOL Ingenieria y Obras is a multinational company dedicated to the promotion and management of large commercial and consumer engineering projects at high profile facilities such as hotels, airports, hospitals and railways. This project was the first time the company had worked with Cummins Power Generation, but has subsequently commissioned further Cummins’ systems for other consumer engineering projects.
Mark Terrades of SAMPOL says, “We chose the Cummins products because we needed a system that would provide reliable backup for our expanding power needs. We were impressed by the solution provided by Cummins Power Generation, as well as the company’s excellent customer service and installation.”
The system is tested weekly but can operate up to 24-hours a day on an automatic operating system. It can provide 6MW of emergency standby power for the expanding airport. Fernando Pinzon of Cummins Power Generation concludes, “Thanks to the success of this project, we have developed a good working relationship with SAMPOL and have been asked to supply Cummins products for a variety of other applications. We pride ourselves on our service, as well as power solutions, and are very pleased that SAMPOL has recognised us for these qualities.”
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