Copenhagen Airport (CPH) will act as a testbed for a ‘Smart Airports’ project worth more than €15 million/€17.6 million designed to inspire carbon-free airports of the future.

A consortium headed by CPH in collaboration with *14 other European partners secured funding from the European Commission following an EU tender.

CPH has been selected as a so-called ‘lighthouse airport’ to demonstrate how airport infrastructure should be designed to reduce and eventually extinguish carbon emissions.

The ‘ALIGHT’ project (a lighthouse for the introduction of sustainable aviation solutions for the future) will run for four years from its start date of 1 November.

The EU Commission has pledged **€12 million, with partners involved with the project adding more than €3 million/$3.5 million.

Thomas Woldbye, CEO, Copenhagen Airport.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT? 

Thomas Woldbye, CEO, Copenhagen Airport said: “With this project, we aim to develop specific solutions and create a comprehensive concept for designing the airport of the future. We must be able to provide an infrastructure for the aircraft of the future, which may be electric or powered by hydrogen or other sustainable fuels.

“At the same time, we will investigate how we can integrate electrification and solar panels into airport design, so that we can power buildings, vehicles and aircraft and thereby eventually completely phase out carbon emissions.

“Obviously, we’re very excited that the European Commission chose our project, and we welcome the opportunity together with good partners to spearhead the process of developing concrete solutions and concepts for the sustainable airport of the future.”

ALIGHT is working on solution to address two overarching challenges. One is about the process and logistics of handling sustainable aviation fuels in an operational context, including procurement, blending, fuelling, quality controls and safety processes.

The other issue concerns the development of smart energy solutions for other airport operations, including the production of sustainable energy, energy storage and electrification.

Tied closely to the project is support for sustainable aircraft fuels such as electric power and hydrogen, which presents a challenge for many airports as their infrastructure is designed exclusively for the fuels used today.

The EU Commission has allocated funds to a Copenhagen Airport-led consortium to lead the way in carbon-free airports across Europe.

The project, which will contribute to the achievement of climate targets in reducing emissions in line with national governments’ commitments to the Paris climate accord, will be based at Copenhagen Airport but will be closely monitored by vanguard airports in Rome and Lithuania and the organisation building a new airport in Warsaw scheduled for completion in 2027.

CPH will be the base for the ‘sustainable airport of the future’, but the learnings are designed to be applied elsewhere, including at the airports in Italy, Lithuania and Poland.

Together with CPH, the airports in question cover four geographical areas and four different climate zones, supporting the idea that solutions can be tailored to local conditions.

*Lithuania and Rome Airports; Solidarity Transport Hub Poland (CPK); fuel storage and hydrant company Copenhagen Airport I/S; Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS); Nordic Initiative for Sustainable Aviation (NISA); International Air Transport Association (IATA); German Aerospace Center (DLR); AirBP; The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB); Hybrid Greentech; BMGindroz Consulting; the University of Parma; and Hamburg University of Technology.

**Funds allocated from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme for a ‘Smart Airports’ project. The Horizon 2020 programme has existed since 2014 and expires at the end of 2020. It has allocated almost DKK600 billion to various projects, DKK7.5 billion of which is earmarked for sustainable development.