Athens airport commissions 15.8 MW solar power plant

• The Athens International Airport is now covering two thirds of its electricity needs with solar energy-- a 15.8 MW center has been added to an 8.05 MW solar unit constructed in 2011.

The largest prosumer in Greece is the Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos. The driver, AIA, which vowed in 2019 to drive down emissions to net zero by 2025 as well as cover its electrical power needs with onsite manufacturing, commissioned a solar power plant of 15.8 MW in peak capacity.

It is combined with a pioneering 8.05 MW photovoltaic system that was put into operation in 2011. With each other they cover two thirds of the airport's consumption, according to the upgrade. Style as well as building lasted 9 months in total amount, until completion in February, the business claimed.

Step toward airport's carbon neutrality

The new unit contains 29,214 panels. Annual production is estimated at 27.5 GWh, which AIA stated would certainly meet 46% of its need. The output amounts the consumption of 6,650 households, the statement includes.

It will certainly take the photovoltaic or pv plant that was simply put into procedure 23 years to stop 71,500 tons of co2 emissions, which the project designer claimed is the same achievement as for a forest of the airport's dimension-- 1,600 hectares.

A 100% protection from an own sustainable electricity source would certainly go down emissions by 90%.

The Route 2025 net zero strategy from 2019 suggests EUR 100 million in investment, the firm's officials noted. An extra 45 MW of solar power capacity is envisaged to be connected to the grid by 2025 and also make the airport completely self-dependent in terms of power supply, AIA added. It would certainly replace 90% of greenhouse gas emissions, the driver stated.

Following segment includes batteries.

Storage space units will be incorporated with the following solar park segment, the firm claimed and worried that it has filed the project with the Regulatory Authority for Power and various other pertinent institutions in Greece.

AIA claimed that it reduced its carbon footprint by more than 60% from 2005 to 2021 with the initial unit. The European Union's target is to make airports carbon neutral by 2025. The 8.05 MW unit was the largest solar power plant at an airport at the time when it was mounted.

Flughafen Wien Group, which runs the Vienna International Airport, placed Austria's most significant solar power plant right into operation last May. The unit has 24 MW in peak capacity.