The eGPU is a result of the collaboration between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Nissan, which provided the battery packs, and ITW GSE, which delivered the solid-state converter and assembled the unit.
Viggo Eindhoven airport provided input on the functional specifications surrounding how to use the GPU in daily operations. This involved months of design work, development and testing, when the 7400 unit was connected to an aircraft and facilitated its first successful turnaround on October 2 at Eindhoven airport.
The 7400 eGPU supplied a Transavia 737-800 with clean power. According to Product Manager, Kim Koustrup Pedersen, it was not just a normal turnaround. The eGPU was tested to see how it would cope with various demands; the flight captain was asked to switch on as many instruments as possible and even did an APU start-up during the turn-around. The results were to everybody’s satisfaction, Koustrup Pedersen reports.
After 65 minutes, the total consumption of the eGPU was only 12.7 kWh.
Staff at the airport were also pleased with the performance of the electric unit, which was clean and silent, compared to the exhaust fumes and the noise level produced by a traditional diesel GPU.
Not only does the ITW GSE 7400 provide the aircraft with power, therefore, but also contributes to a cleaner environment, reducing the CO2 production by 90% and the NOx level by as much as 95%, compared to a conventional diesel unit.
The ITW GSE 7400 at a glance:
- The world’s first battery-powered GPU
- Reduces CO2 by 90% and the NOx emissions by 95% compared to diesel-driven GPUs
- Zero noise
- Based on two well-known technologies: the ITW GSE 2400 solid-state converter and Nissan Leaf battery packs
- Rechargeable from any 50/60Hz socket
- Can be equipped with 2-4 battery packs to suit power requirements
- Built-in redundancy—if one battery pack fails, others take over
- Batteries can be repurposed as power banks
