How will Dublin Airport be affected by threatened ESB strike?

Fred Swanson

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urajoke

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Yes normal ops. Massive back up generators. Some sectors might be asked to reduce the load and switch off non essential stuff.

Fred Swanson

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jfmeto

Hope the airport strikes as well

flanzer

jfmeto wrote: »

Hope the airport strikes as well

jfmeto

flanzer wrote: »

It is a simple concept

doolox

...to put these monopolists in their place. No one should have the right to hold the entire country to ransom and jeapordise our primary objective, to create and retain as many jobs here as possible for as many people as possible.

Th1nker

A problem might arise if the Dublin airport electricians are in the same union as the ESB which I think they are and support the guys.

jfmeto

jfmeto wrote: »

It is a simple concept

Oh you're not spiteful and snarky at all, you.

jfmeto

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Oh you're not spiteful and snarky at all, you.

Yeah

Wake up

jfmeto

doolox wrote: »

...to put these monopolists in their place. No one should have the right to hold the entire country to ransom and jeapordise our primary objective, to create and retain as many jobs here as possible for as many people as possible.

That makes no sense at all

urajoke

jfmeto wrote: »

That makes no sense at all

And nothing to do with A&A.

andy_g

Back on topic please. Its almost the merry season even if i dont like it so bans can follow.

Get in the festive mood and be nice or dont post at all simples.

Dublinflyer

Hmm, close the airport. If the union wants to have any hope of public support it would be a mistake to try shut down the airport so close to Christmas.

flanzer

Dublinflyer wrote: »

Hmm, close the airport. If the union wants to have any hope of public support it would be a mistake to try shut down the airport so close to Christmas.

That's why I've got a feeling that management of the ESB are going to call the bluff of the Unions and everything will go down to the wire

markpb

Th1nker wrote: »

A problem might arise if the Dublin airport electricians are in the same union as the ESB which I think they are and support the guys.

That would be illegal

josip

urajoke wrote: »

Yes normal ops. Massive back up generators. Some sectors might be asked to reduce the load and switch off non essential stuff.

When was the last time these would have been used or tested in a scenario of keeping the entire airport operational?

I've seen a lot of cases in the retail industry where the backup generators couldn't handle the required load or failed to behave as exepected when required to operate for real, rather than under test conditions.

IngazZagni

josip wrote: »

When was the last time these would have been used or tested in a scenario of keeping the entire airport operational?

I've seen a lot of cases in the retail industry where the backup generators couldn't handle the required load or failed to behave as exepected when required to operate for real, rather than under test conditions.

Not sure about Dublin but at some big UK airports the backup generators only supply power to essential systems in order to allow a certain amount of aircraft to land. Even with that the amount of time it can operate for is limited. Many examples of it after that storm in the UK a couple of months back. Caused long delays.

Dublinflyer

We test them on a fairly regular basis. When we are in low vis ops they all have to be running. ~They are talking about 3 hour blackouts so the generators should be well able for that.

bk

Is the airport not on a priority power lines?

Reading the paper today, it seems, Irish Rail are and they don't expect to be effected.

I believe there is three levels of priority.

Hospitals, Garda Stations, Fire Stations, government departments, etc. They are never effected, they have guaranteed service.

Public transport (and I assume the airport) are on a priority line and will be kept running.

Residential and commercial, these get the lowest priority. Even at that, some 60% of the peak power requirements is generated by non ESB companies. So only about 25% of homes and businesses will be effected for about 3 or 4 hours in the evening peak.

So it doesn't look like it would have too much effect on the airport.

Dublinflyer

I am not sure about the priority, it makes sense to have something like that in place. We have two feeds from different sub-stations, Finglas and somewhere else in the opposite direction that escapes me right now. You would think that would keep the airport going but if there is a priority system in place you would think we are up there on the list.

Hopefully it will all get sorted and won't come to cuts but it's hard to tell as the union is talking like they in it for the long haul.

markpb

josip wrote: »

When was the last time these would have been used or tested in a scenario of keeping the entire airport operational?

Companies who take business continuity seriously test those systems regularly and I'd be surprised if DAA and IAA were any different, esoenually when it comes to life critical systems like runway lights and radar.

That said, I really doubt the airport would remain fully operational in the event of an all out strike. You can lessen the load for some things but the remaining list is still huge. In addition to all the safety critical things, you need most of the internal lights, all of the heating, security, baggage handling, sanitary facilities and probably some power for the restaurants. That's a pretty big draw from a generator.

Dublinflyer

We have a lot of generators around the airport and there is enough capacity to fully run airport systems. In saying that in the event of a complete supply cut we reduce load where possible,internal lights, air con etc in the terminal building. I have asked a few people here who are in the know about these things and nobody seems too worried given the separate supply's and generation capabilities.

davebuck

Does Dublin airport not have a CHP unit for providing power?