Airports

Cologne Bonn Airport to invest 2.5 million euros in PV systems

Using the power of the sun: Development of the photovoltaics systems at Cologne/Bonn Airport continues.

The next few months will see roof-mounted PV systems, with a total installed output of around 2.6 megawatts-peak (MWp), gradually fitted on four cargo halls and administration buildings on site.

This is enough to supply nearly 600 homes with electricity for an entire year. It is a project in which the airport is investing 2.5 million euros.

“Expanding our renewable-energy facilities is an important step towards carbon-neutrality”, says Thilo Schmid, CEO of Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH.

“It takes us that much closer to our goal of being carbon-neutral by 2045.”

PV systems have already been an important part of the airport’s sustainability activities for several years.

The first two systems commenced operation there in 2009. There are currently seven such systems, with some 13,000 modules in total, producing around 2800 megawatt hours (MWh) of solar power per year.

In close co-operation with cargo service provider UPS, another system is being installed at UPS’ facility, and is set to have an output of around 1500 kilowatts peak.

PV systems will also be installed on the roofs of the facility run by cargo service provider FedEx (700 kWp) and two other buildings where the airline Eurowings’ is headquartered (400 kWp). Collectively, the four systems will have around 8600 modules, producing some 2300 MWh of solar power per year.

Over the next few years, the airport plans to invest several million euros in energy infrastructure to reduce consumption and decouple itself from fossil energy sources.

In doing so, its focus is not only on expanding its photovoltaics systems, but also on zero-emission generation of heat and cold using ice-storage technology in combination with PV systems and heat pumps.

In addition, the airport will be investing in a substation and woodchip-fired power plant.

The airport’s own co-generation plant was also upgraded in 2022.

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