From left, Ryan Cheek, Supervisor of Gas Generation; Jordan Hall, Supervisor of Chilled Water; Mukesh Joshi, Sr. Engineer with Chilled Water; and Aaron Fagen, Manager of Chilled Water, at the emergency power generation facility OUC runs and maintains at Orlando International Airport’s South Terminal C.

The groundbreaking OUC- Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) agreement announced in 2019 set in motion an unusual collaboration that, more than three years later, has created a template for “partnering together” within the Commission.

Two disparate teams that had never worked together – Chilled Water Services and Power Production – joined forces to lead a complex project that came to fruition on Nov. 3, 2022. That’s when OUC took ownership and operational control of a 10,395-ton chilled water facility and a 28-megawatt emergency power generation (EPG) plant at Orlando International Airport’s new South Terminal C under a 20-year partnership agreement with GOAA.

While the terminal was under construction, OUC’s Chilled Water and Power Production departments began planning for the day OUC would take responsibility for operating and maintaining the site’s two essential facilities. The result of the synergy between the two groups is “a team we never imagined having,” says Aaron Fagen, Manager of Chilled Water Services. “Now we’re sharing software and operating procedures. Now we’re cohesive and work together all the time. They understand how our business works and we understand theirs.”

The arrangement between Chilled Water and Power Production calls for the former providing round-the-clock supervision of the South Terminal C plants and the latter performing maintenance on the EPG unit’s seven, four-megawatt diesel-powered generators.

The early stages of their collaboration were challenging to say the least, but not necessarily because of issues between the two teams. The terminal site was a beehive of activity, and construction plans were constantly changing along with the contacts OUC relied on for information on the chilled water and EPG plants. This project marked the first time OUC had not designed and supervised the construction of a power generation facility it would operate.

Joe Murphy and Ryan Cheek, both Supervisors of Gas Generation, were OUC’s boots on the ground at the terminal, working out of a trailer beginning in 2020.

Cheek says one of the more formidable challenges of working on the project was “determining where GOAA’s ownership ended and ours began.”

For example, while OUC is responsible for the operations and upkeep of the units, many auxiliary systems, including the fuel tanks and control panels at the EPG facility, are owned by GOAA.

Mukesh Joshi, Sr. Engineer, Chilled Water, visits the 10,395-ton chilled water plant at South Terminal C.

When OUC took over the two units last November, Chilled Water Services, also known as OUCooling, moved its control room from Pershing to the chilled water building at South Terminal C. Staffed 24/7/365, the control room monitors all of OUC’s chilled water plants and the terminal’s emergency power generation facility. (OUCooling will grow to 11 plants when a 20,000-ton unit, the largest in OUC history, begins providing air conditioning to Universal Orlando Resort’s new Epic Universe attraction. OUC designed and oversaw construction of the chilled water plant at the new theme park. Universal and GOAA are two of OUC’s largest customers.)

At South Terminal C, a private-access road connects the chilled water facility to the unstaffed EPG building. Twice a day the EPG generators are checked on site through a smartphone app that collects data on their operational readiness. In case of a power outage at the terminal, the generators are programmed to automatically start up after the loss of electricity.

Knowing what was at stake, including the trust GOAA had placed in OUC, motivated the teams to form a successful partnership. “We weren’t going to let each other fail,” says Jordan Hall, Supervisor of Chilled Water.

Looking back on the experience, Mukesh Joshi, Sr. Engineer, Chilled Water, commented: “I think the working relationship we formed provides a great template for other departments in OUC to follow.”

Aaron Fagen (right), Manager of Chilled Water, checks in with Engels Acosta, Chilled Water Operator I, at the control room for OUC’s chilled water operations.