Upon an honorary invitation of the Athens International Airport, AIA, the HCAA Governor, Dr. Christos Tsitouras, together with Mr. Yiannis Parashis, CEO of AIA, Rihardos Lampiris Chairman of the Board of Directors of AIA, Alexandra Sdoukou, Secretary General of Energy and Mineral Raw Materials, Karine Asselin, Ambassador of Canada to Greece, inaugurated the new 16-megawatt self-generated photovoltaic park and self-consumption at Athens International Airport.

From the left, Alexandra Sdoukou, Secretary General of Energy and Mineral Raw Materials, Christos Tsitouras, Governor of the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, George Eleftherakos, General Director of Development AIA, Richards Lampiris Chairman of the Board of Directors of AIA, Yannis Paraschis, CEO of AIA, Costas Theodorogiannopoulos, Director of Technical Services AIA , Giorgos Misailidis, Director of Energy & Real Estate Management AIA and the project supervision and construction team.

"The airport becomes the largest self-production unit in Greece - The project is part of the dynamic strategy of sustainable development and environmental responsibility of Athens International Airport and, in particular, the goal of "Route 2025".

The new 16-megawatt self-production and self-consumption photovoltaic park was inaugurated today at the Athens International Airport. This is the largest self-production unit in Greece, which, already today, produces approximately 45% of the annual consumption of the airport company. The production of the installation, amounting to 27,500 megawatt hours per year, corresponds approximately to the consumption of 6,650 households.

By 2046, the operation of the new 16-megawatt facility will sequester 71,500 tons of carbon dioxide, an amount equivalent to a forest the size of the airport (16,000 acres).

The project is part of the dynamic strategy of sustainable development and environmental responsibility of the Athens International Airport and, in particular, the “Route 2025” goal, a total investment of around 100 million euros, announced by the company in 2019.

At the same time, this investment and the ROUTE 2025 program are practical evidence of our dedication and commitment, as a pillar of our city's tourism product, for our contribution to the promotion of Athens not only as a top tourist destination, but also as a top sustainable destination for the residents and visitors of our city.

Combined with the first 8 MW photovoltaic plant operating since 2011 (which conventionally produces for the public grid) and the new 16 MW self-generation, 2/3 of AIA's required electricity needs are produced from renewable sources within the airport. This fact makes Athens International Airport a pioneer - perhaps even unique - among airports in Europe and internationally.

Completion of the next phase in 2025, estimated at an additional 45 megawatts of PV, will ensure the production of 100% of AIA's electricity needs for each year until 2046, maximizing self-consumption using battery storage units. The AIA has already submitted the relevant applications, both to the RAE and to other competent agencies.

The Athens International Airports CEO, Yannis Paraschis, said: "The new 16-megawatt photovoltaic park that we are inaugurating today with particular satisfaction, is practical proof of our company's commitment to the ambitious goal that we announced in December 2019 for zero emissions until 2025.

Despite the extremely critical conditions faced by our industry in the last three years, and while we were still waiting for the formation of the framework for self-production and storage - which was completed only recently - we proceeded to implement the project in phases so that no time was lost to our strategic goal, "Route 2025".

The effort and persistence have justified us and today we are pleased to inaugurate the largest self-production unit in Greece, an investment that strengthens with its important footprint, the identity of Athens as a sustainable destination".

Overall from 2005 to 2021, AIA has achieved a reduction of its footprint of more than 60%, despite a significant increase in passenger traffic, through a series of interventions in airport operations and infrastructure from 67,001 CO2 to 27,641 tons of CO2.

AIA is the only airport in Greece with a Neutral Carbon Balance and has received the relevant certification of the Airport Carbon Accreditation program of the Airports International Council of Europe (ACI-Europe) since 2016.

In 2019, the AIA committed to achieving NetZero Carbon without offsets by 2025 - well ahead of the 2050 target announced by European airports. The highly ambitious "Route 2025" initiative of the Athens airport aims to self-produce clean energy within the airport through photovoltaics for self-consumption, to cover 100% of its electricity needs, which corresponds to approximately 90% of the carbon footprint the company's."

SOURCE: https://www.newmoney.gr/