News

Earlier this year the Mobile Alabama Corps of Engineers awarded a contract to IAP to provide new power plant equipment along with the Operations and Maintenance at Soto Cano AB in Honduras beginning June 2, 2015. Bringing IAP’s global power solution to this important geographical region of the world was not without its challenges, but thanks to the combined efforts of teams at IAP’s Panama City and Cape Canaveral offices plus IAP’s on-site Soto Cano team, the air base is powered up and running successfully.

“By close of business on June 30, we had performed a hot swap on all 5 generator units,” said Program Manager Dan Ross. “We beat the proposed schedule by 9 days even though we discovered the generator units needed repairs prior to delivery, and there was a problem with conversion components that needed to be resolved for the system to operate per requirements.”The customer and the local commands all expressed their appreciation and noted IAP’s excellent job in identifying an issue with the equipment and making sound decisions to mitigate the problems while still exceeding the terms of the proposed schedule.

Ross noted that safety was a key issue with performing a hot swap of equipment on a live electrical distribution network. “We ensured that all electrical safety practices were followed both from the base aspect and IAP’s standards,” said Dan. “Everything was performed safely with no incidents or loss of power to the customer.”

While overseeing the site phase-in, Ross also developed a new reporting system specific to the site and its unique conditions and criteria. The system provides the customer with a transparent picture of plant operations which will aid in making decisions on power requirements going forward. The system further provides fuel efficiencies data and electrical load curves that will allow the customer to better control and budget for fuel and electrical distribution in the future.

IAP provides electric power generation on a 24/7 full-time basis for both the American side and the Honduran Air Academy in Soto Cano.