Wednesday 17 April 2019

Spain’s Aena lands €86m for energy efficient airports

Spanish firm Aena has been granted €86 million (£74.6m) to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions at its airports in the country.

The project is expected to help boost the energy efficiency of 46 airports and two heliports as well as create around 635 jobs during implementation.

It will include the replacement of lighting systems with low carbon alternatives, optimisation of thermal insulation and renovation of ventilation systems and boilers.

The airport operator is also planning an onsite solar power plant in Madrid, generating 12,600MWh of clean energy and cutting nearly 3,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, as well as the installation of around 2,700 charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) at its car parks.

All the improvements are expected to help reduce emissions of Aena airports by 30%.

The loan is being provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB) over the next two years, which will enable Aena to finance 75% of its investments.

Maurici Lucena, Executive Director of Aena said environmental sustainability is one of the key objectives outlined in its Strategic Plan for 2018/21 and the company is implementing various actions to reduce its environmental footprint.

He added: “This defines our plan to improve our energy efficiency and use of renewable energies over the next few years.”