Like Puerto Rico, the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport found out the hard way why microgrids are a good insurance policy. The world’s busiest airport suffered an 11-hour power outage on Sunday, delaying over a thousand flights and leaving passengers stranded for hours in darkened terminals or seated in planes. Georgia Power, the utility that serves the airport, continues to investigate what happened. But early indications are that switchgear located in an underground electrical facility failed and started a fire, according to the Southern Company subsidiary. Posting on Twitter, stranded travelers questioned why the airport had no back-up power. It turns out Georgia Power did have what it’s calling a “redundant” system. But that failed too because it was located close to where the fire started. What the airport clearly lacked – and needed – is an advanced microgrid system, according to several power experts interviewed by Microgrid Knowledge. Collapsed […]