Powervamp’s ‘Anti-pollution’ Custom Ground Power at London City Airport
Directives and legislation changes set by politicians rarely inspire feats of engineering brilliance. However, London’s new anti-pollution directive was the inspiration for a team of Powervamp engineers working with London City Airport management to produce a UK first in mobile ground power.
Keen to reduce Co2 emissions and cut pollution – as well as further improving the efficiency of flight operations, decision makers at London City Airport sought proposals and bids from manufacturers of ground power equipment to replace diesel equipment used to power aircraft, with electric power.
The new MEGP one-man operated battery powered 90Kva trolley
“Powervamp proposed a novel design of a one-man operated battery powered pedestrian trolley fitted with their 90kVA ground power units”
London City Airport is unique. Its short single runway and aircraft parking area, contained within a former London dock next to the Thames, means space constraints demand that all ground power units must be mobile and removed from the flight line before aircraft departure. Powervamp proposed a novel design of a one-man operated battery powered pedestrian trolley fitted with their 90kVA ground power units.
With eight of the ten electric carts now delivered and in daily operation at London City Airport, this UK manufacturing first is already generating interest from other airports.
Kevin Brown, Director and head of development at Powervamp, who oversaw the technical design of the project, comments: “This achievement for Powervamp says a lot about our electronics and engineering expertise. We were competing against much larger foreign multinationals that didn’t seem to have-the flair and flexibility necessary to provide the solution that London City Airport required. It is not generally realised that Powervamp is the only UK designer and manufacturer of this type of product. In addition, we have the necessary approvals and infrastructure to support these types of critical installations.”
“No other company was able to offer the level of response or to design and build a bespoke product with the assurances of delivery that we gave”
Jake Mearns, Technical Director, added: “It is fair to say that our ability to create innovative solutions and respond to the input from the client, backed by in-house generated CAD drawings put us on the right track. As I understand it, no other company was able to offer the level of response or to design and build a bespoke product with the assurances of delivery that we gave. The project stretched our design creativity as engineers. The result has been production of an electric battery powered mobile electric ground power (MEGP) cart which is a UK first, integrating the technology of our two manufacturing plants at Luton and Weston-super-Mare.”
The Powervamp Board of Directors with their new creation
It is estimated that the new electric ground power units will eliminate 2,000 tonnes of Co2 annually and produce fuel saving exceeding £200,000 per annum.
Powervamp employ forty people and is recognised world wide for the design and manufacture of equipment that powers all types of vehicles, buildings and aircraft. Their products are operating in more than 60 countries.
For more information contact our sales team: +44 (0)1934 643000 | sales@powervamp.com.
Image: londoncityairport.com
