GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), the operator of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in India, has taken its first steps to migrating its entire network of conventional air conditioning (AC) units to ozone safe AC units.
Rajiv Gandhi Airport has more than 300 AC units within the terminal and ancillary buildings and has converted more than 80% of its AC units to to ozone safe R410 gas compliant AC units. The conversion of the remaining units is currently underway. All the new units use inverter technology, which are proven to improve energy efficiency and reduce Green House Gases.
Conventional air conditioners regulate temperature by using a compressor that is periodically either working at maximum capacity or switched off entirely. In case of an inverter type AC, the unit controls the speed of the compressor motor to drive variable refrigerant flow to regulate the conditioned-space temperature.
More than 50% of the electricity consumed by Hyderabad Airport – which receives more than 40,000 passengers on a daily basis – is used to maintain air conditioning across the terminal. The implementation of the new inverter based AC units at Hyderabad Airport will result in a 30% reduction in power consumption.
SGK Kishore, CEO, GHIAL, said, “GHIAL is committed toward environment sustainability. Migration toward inverter based AC units has been a strategic decision which we have taken in line with the Government of India’s mission to phase out the ozone-depleting HCFCs from India.
“GHIAL has been pro-actively utilizing newer and greener technologies available globally to keep its commitment toward environment sustenance. RGIA has [a] 5MW solar power plant which meets approximately 15% of airport’s electricity demand. The airport is also striving toward converting 100% of its lights to LED, of which more than 75% are already complete.”