Airport operator Fraport has begun an overhaul of its diesel ground power supply units at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) in Germany with a €215,000 (US$231,000) grant from the ground power directive funding program operated by the German Ministry of Digital and Transport.
As part of the group’s climate protection strategy, the remaining diesel units supplying electricity to onboard systems for parked aircraft will disappear entirely from the FRA’s apron by 2040. However, the nature of the airport’s infrastructure means that it will not be possible to equip each one of the current 255 aircraft positions with a stationary 400Hz connection. At these remaining aircraft parking positions, only battery-powered ground power units (GPUs) will be used.
The funding will be used to equip a building position in terminal section C. Due to the structural conditions at this aircraft position, Fraport will procure a battery-powered e-GPU that includes charging infrastructure. The total investment involved is €307,000 (US$330,0000).
Christoph Schiller, project manager of Fraport’s asset management team for central infrastructure, explained, “The first aim is to connect those parking positions that do not yet have a stationary ground power connection to the electric grid. But to achieve this, major excavation works are necessary. These need to take place during ongoing operations. We are therefore proceeding on the basis that we will be able to upgrade around 12 positions by 2026.”
Around 67% of the positions are currently connected. However, it will not be possible to install fixed 400Hz ground power units at some positions, as the locations would require the installation of an above-ground transformer.
“These sites include our ’roll-through’ aircraft positions, in which the aircraft, instead of being pushed back, uses its own power and leaves the position by rolling forward. We can’t have any obstacles in the way in these cases,” specified Schiller. “Going forward, we will need mobile e-GPUs at these positions. With every diesel unit that we remove from the apron, we can save up to 30,000 liters of diesel annually and significantly reduce our CO2 emissions.” Fraport currently has eight e-GPUs and around 61 diesel-powered units in use.
This initiative forms part of the company’s goal to operate on a carbon-free basis by no later than 2045. By 2030, Fraport aims to reduce its emissions at FRA to 50,000 metric tons annually.
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