Pittsburgh International Airport avoids power outages and reduces its energy costs by generating electricity on site using natural gas and solar panels.
When Christina Cassotis, the chief executive of Pittsburgh International Airport, heard about the power outage that forced London’s Heathrow Airport to suspend operations last week, she thought of the workers who were frantically trying to manage the chaos.
But when an outage hits closer to home, she has a more restrained response: Keep calm and carry on.
For almost four years, her airport has been powered by a mix of on-site natural gas generators and solar panels. The airport estimates that the stand-alone system, known as a microgrid, has saved it about $1 million a year on its energy costs and allowed it to use the electric grid as a backup, Ms. Cassotis said.
“We did it because we wanted resiliency and redundancy,” she said. “Airports are critical transportation infrastructure. We should be able to operate no matter what.”
That level of energy independence is rare, especially among larger airports.
Many airports have backup generators to help them maintain critical functions like air traffic control and lighting during power outages. But those standard emergency measures have limitations. They may require refueling if an outage lasts for many hours or days, for example. That’s why most airports remain heavily reliant on external power to keep passengers and planes moving.
But U.S. airports are increasingly experimenting with generating and storing electricity on site — typically with solar power and batteries — to curb carbon emissions, prepare for future electricity needs, and manage rising disruptions caused by climate change and aging infrastructure.
Denver International Airport has multiple connections to the grid in case one fails, but it recently also put in place a solar-powered battery storage system to keep its underground trains running in an emergency. At New York’s Kennedy International Airport, a $19 billion overhaul includes plans to install thousands of solar panels and batteries to cut emissions and keep its new Terminal 1, which is expected to open in 2026, running during outages that can be very disruptive and costly for airports and everyone who relies on them.