Keeping the lights on at Barajas airport

Ever wondered how big airports like Barajas in Madrid keep running smoothly even during power outages?

Let’s look at the dedicated SAMPOL power plant at the T4 terminal and T4 satellite. This power plant, designed, built and operated by SAMPOL, has six Wärtsilä 18V32DF engines that not only provide emergency backup power but also produce hot and cold water for heating and cooling the airport by utilising waste heat from the engines. 

This power plant is a crucial part of the airport's infrastructure, designed to ensure that everything runs smoothly even during major incidents in the Spanish power grid.

Recently, Spain and Portugal experienced a massive 10-hour blackout, but guess what? The airport continued its operations without a hitch, thanks to the reliability of the power plant and quick thinking from Wärtsilä and SAMPOL who thought of an innovative solution. 

So, what exactly happened?

In normal mode, the power plant generates electricity and hot and cold water while working in parallel with the grid. This allows the operator to sell excess power in the market, optimising operating costs. During a blackout, the power plant automatically disconnects from the grid and continues supplying the airport with electricity and by-products (heating and cooling) without interruption in an isolated (island) mode. The control system algorithm also mandates switching from gas to a reserve liquid fuel (LFO) stored in two tanks at the site, assuming that natural gas supply would not be available due to the grid failure. 

The reserve fuel tank provides enough volume for 24 hours of full-load operation, assuming external power supply would resume within that time or additional LFO would be delivered to the site with additional trucks 

Despite the blackout, there was still gas in the pipeline and thanks to reciprocating engine technology, which uses low fuel gas pressure, it was possible to use gas to avoid interruptions in power generation, although this was not normally programmed for emergency situations. SAMPOL asked the Wärtsilä advisor if it was possible to modify the program, and together they decided to break the protocol and experiment with gas in an isolated mode. 

Out of the six engines, one was disconnected from liquid fuel, necessary adjustments were made, and then switched to gas. The process was closely controlled to avoid faults. The experiment went well, and as confirmation of LFO delivery was received that afternoon, there was no need to switch more engines to run on gas. However, the big advantage was that it was now known that all six engines could be switched to gas if needed – even if no LFO is available. 

“During the recent blackout, the team demonstrated extraordinary resilience and innovation. By swiftly adapting to the circumstances, we helped SAMPOL to ensured that Barajas airport remained fully operational. This incident underscores the reliability of our engine solutions and our commitment to maintaining energy security, even in critical situations,” said Kenneth Engblom, Vice President, Africa & Europe, Wärtsilä Energy. 

“This incident proves how resilient the SAMPOL’s CHP design is and the operation in terms of seamless power supply to the airport, all the critical load never lost power supply therefore helping the airport to continue normal operations” said David Gabiola, Barajas Plant Manager, SAMPOL. 

Throughout the blackout duration, the airport did not notice any issues with the energy supply and maintained operations as normal.