AMSTERDAM: One of Europe’s busiest airports, located in The Netherlands, is on course to become fully sustainable in the near future. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam handles 63 million passengers a year, making it the third-highest in the continent. To handle this volume in the right way, it has designs to become one of the most sustainable airports in the world.
Jos Nijhuis, the airport’s President and CEO has previously stated that “one thing is certain: aviation can and must be made more sustainable.”
As part of this plan, and to align itself with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Royal Schiphol Group has just opened a new wind farm.
The Autena project, built by Dutch developer Eneco, consists of three turbines, two of which will be used to supply the airport with 10 percent of its power needs, equivalent to the annual consumption of around 17,000 households.
The move forms part of a deal struck with Eneco last year to source all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The energy firm is developing more wind farms to meet this goal, which will see it provide 200 gigawatt hours of clean power to all of Holland’s major airports, including Rotterdam, The Hague, Eindhoven, and Lelystad.
Nijhuis added that the agreement will allow our airports to increase their sustainability and offer economic benefits.
Along with renewable power, Schiphol recently unveiled 100 new electric buses at the airport, which will be used 24 hours a day in and around the terminals. It has installed fast-charging infrastructure which allows batteries to be refuelled in 2-4 minutes.
Miriam Hoekstra-van der Deen, Director of Airport Operations at Schiphol commented that “It is fantastic that from today, thousands of passengers, commuters and employees will be taking green buses from and to Schiphol.”
“Schiphol Airport has helped drive this project forward with great enthusiasm and we are very happy that we have been able to contribute to it. Ultimately, we want Schiphol to be climate-neutral by 2040,” she added.