Irish airport operator daa, in collaboration with ESB, has installed a new solar farm at Dublin Airport to supply more than half of the annual energy requirements of its reservoir system.
A total of 268 solar panels have been installed on top of the airport’s reservoir system, which supplies 500 million litres of water to both passenger terminals.
The solar plant has been established as part of an energy agreement signed between daa and ESB. It will help to achieve an overall reduction of 33% energy consumption at the airport by 2020.
Chief executive of daa Dalton Philips said that the company was working with ESB to identify opportunities to use low carbon technologies to improve energy performance at the airport.
Philips said: “We are committed to working in partnership with ESB to reduce our energy consumption by 33% by 2020. We want to be leaders in this area and help Ireland meet its national obligations in the process.”
Over the past three years, Dublin Airport was able to reduce its carbon footprint by 5,000t, which is equivalent to a 10% reduction in carbon emissions while under daa’s control.
Philips further added: “We are looking forward to building on this performance and making even more energy savings that will also benefit the travelling public through sustainable environmental performance and annual cost savings.”
Dublin Airport, which supports and facilitates more than 119,200 jobs and contributes €8.3bn to the Irish economy, welcomed 29.6 million passengers last year, a 6% increase over the same period last year.
