Joshua Parfitt
SPAIN’S airport operator has announced ambitious plans to produce most of its own electricity using solar power.
Aena, which manages 46 airports and two heliports across Spain, will invest €250 million in renewable energy to save on its electricity costs and cut carbon emissions.
The board of directors announced the money would be used to install solar panels in half of its airports, cutting nationwide electricity bills from €75 million a year to €23 million.
The move should also lower the operator’s carbon emissions by 40% by 2025, and make Madrid and Barcelona’s airports carbon neutral by 2030.
The 51% state-owned company owns vast tracts of empty land located near to their airports where the new panels will be installed.
The company now has to decide which airports will get the new facilities first.
In addition to Madrid and Barcelona, plans are to install solar panels in 20 out of the remaining 46 airports in Spain – which in Andalucia include Malaga-Costa del Sol, Almeria, Granada-Jaen, Cordoba, Sevilla and Jerez.
Aena also plans to introduce 2,300 charging stations for electric cars in its airport parking lots.
The plans are intended to aid Spain in complying with the European Union’s objective to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
