When Christina Cassotis, chief executive of Pittsburgh International Airport, heard about the power failure forced by London Airport to suspend businesses last week, thought of workers trying to manage the chaos.
But when a break beats closer to the house, it has a more restrained answer: maintain calm and continue.
For almost four years, its airport has been powered by a mixture of on -the -spot natural gas generator and solar panels. The airport estimates that the autonomous system, known as microgrid, has saved it about $ 1 million a year for its energy cost and allowed it to use the electricity grid as a backup, Ms Cassotis said.
“We did it because we wanted durability and redundancy,” he said. “Airports are a critical transport infrastructure. We should be able to operate independently of what.”
This level of energy independence is rare, especially among the larger airports.
Many airports have spare generators to help them maintain critical functions such as air traffic control and lighting during power holidays. But these standard emergency measures have restrictions. They may require refueling if a stoppage takes many hours or days, for example. That is why most airports remain largely dependent on external power to maintain passengers and planes to move.
However, US airports are increasingly experimenting with the creation and storage of electricity in the area – usually with solar energy and batteries – to reduce carbon emissions, prepare for future electricity needs and manage increasing disorders caused by climate.
Denver International Airport has Multiple connections to the grid in case it fails, but also recently set a solar battery storage system to maintain its underground trains in the event of an emergency. At Kennedy International Airport in New York, a revision of $ 19 billion includes plans to install thousands of solar collectors and batteries to reduce emissions and maintain its new Terminal 1, which is expected to open in 2026, running during the holidays.
“If you have a reliable, effective airport, you are helping to support financial durability,” said Joey Cathcart, a viable Aviation expert in RMI, a non -profit viability organization in Colorado known at the Rocky Mountain Institute. He and his colleagues helped develop a federal funded guide for airports interested in microcritics such as those in Pittsburgh.
Airport power outages are more common than many officials would like. A 2023 Accounting Office report identified 321 holidays that lasted at least five minutes at two dozen US airports from 2015 to 2022. Information, part of the US Trade Department.
At the end of 2017, an electric fire caused a power outage at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, disrupting flights national and costs Delta Air Lines, the largest airport airport, tens of millions of dollars. This and other holidays prompted Mrs Cassotis to ask her team to examine the microdia.
“Basically as soon as we started the research process,” he said. “Can we even have one?”
The airport, located in Marcellus Slop Deposits, requested proposals for the design, building and operation of a microgrid at no cost in advance at the airport. Until July 2021, the Microgrid was in operation. Today, it produces 23 megawatts of energy: three from a solar array over an old landfill and the rest of five natural gas generators. At the peak of demand, the airport, which served about 10 million passengers last year, uses only about 14 megawatts, selling excess network.
The establishment of Microgrid, which belongs to two energy companies, has already paid for the airport, which has been locked at low power rates for years and has reduced carbon emissions by more than £ six million a year, Ms Cassotis said.
It has also saved the airport from disorders. The closure of Heathrow on March 21st interrupted world trips, leading to more than 1,000 canceled flights and pulling thousands of passengers. It started with a fire on an electric substation and, weeks earlier, something similar happened near Pittsburgh Airport, according to Mrs Cassotis. The fires near the substations had disturbed some of the power supply at the airport. The airport has disconnected these foods to prevent the spread of problems in its micridic and continue to operate as usual.
“There is a real tangible value for dollars saved,” Ms Cassotis said. “And then there is the peace of the mind.”
Resilience is not the only reason that airports may want to create and store electricity in the hotel.
Air Force represents 2 to 3 percent of world broadcasts and is a particularly difficult industry to restore it because there are few alternatives without emissions for fuel fuels. Creating solar panels, such as the thousands already installed by Denver Airport or those who come to JFK, can help reduce the airport fingerprint. They can also help to complete the increasing energy needs as airports, buses, car rentals and, ultimately, small aircraft, are transferred to battery power.
Denver Airport is served by two special electric substations, each of which can supply the entire facility, providing an emergency, according to Scott Morrissey, a senior vice president of viability at the airport. The airport also has a backup generators.
“Once all these sources are electrified, we want to ensure that the power supply is as reliable and durable as it may be,” he said.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees JFK and the other two major airports serving the New York area, also combine sustainability with durability. In Kennedy, which also has unnecessary sources of energy and generators, terminal 1 will include a huge range of solar panels on the top floor, fuel cells and batteries.
“In order not to have to deal with this disorder, it is obviously very beneficial in terms of business continuity,” said Jessica Forse, the leading project manager who oversees a broader review of the airport, which includes a terminal reconstruction. “In a large, international airport – Heathrow, JFK – these disorders are observed everywhere.
At present, such ambitious projects are limited, but interest is increasing. The federal aviation administration has provided airport grants to explore such options. Airport officials were also looking for advice from Mrs Cassotis and others who were too early for the adoption of solar panels and micro -literary.
“As this market has been developed over time, there are a series of options that should work for different types and airport sizes,” said Lauren Shwisberg, which drives research and projects aimed at moving less carbon electricity to RMI.
