Greece's Athens airport turns on 16-MW solar park

• The Athens International Airport (AIA) in Greece has put on stream a 16-MW solar park that will certainly create power to cover around 45% of its annual electrical power consumption.

The self-consumption plant was ushered in at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held last week as well as participated in by the Minister of Tourism Vassilis Kikilias and also Secretary General for Energy Alexandra Sduku.

Proclaimed as the largest self-consumption photovoltaic (PV) park in Greece, the plant is expected to produce 27,500 MWh per year, equal to the power need of 6,650 residences. It is furnished with more than 29,200 Longi PV panels.

AIA's administration approximates that the airport will offset around 71,500 tonnes of co2 (CO2) exhausts with the new plant by 2046. The airport already has an 8-MWp solar park that was changed in September 2011.

AIA aims to cover all of its onsite power requires with renewable resource as well as zero out its straight discharges from gas consumption under its Web Zero Route 2025, which suggests some EUR 100 million (USD 109.2 m) of financial investments. The airport's future strategies imagine 45 MW of added solar power capacity and battery storage, TaiyangNews reports.