Airport tests 80 lightweight modules at lofty heights
Towards the sun: Around 80 solar film modules are now generating renewable energy on the 27-meter-high chimney of the combined heat and power plant (CHP) at Cologne Bonn Airport. The total collector area of the new photovoltaic system is around 70 m², and the individual modules have been installed facing south on the curved surface of the CHP chimney. The special solar film can be used on roofs, facades, and surfaces that do not allow conventional PV solutions due to their statics and properties.
“Here we are testing a new, green product that can complement our existing rooftop photovoltaic systems,” says Thilo Schmid, Chairman of the Management Board of Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH. “The expansion of solar power is a central component of the sustainability activities that are firmly anchored in our corporate strategy. We are continuously identifying further potential in this field.”
The pilot plant generates up to 4400 kWh per year, which roughly covers the energy requirements of a household. The films developed by Heliatek adhere thanks to an integrated adhesive backing that does not require any special substructure. The CO₂ footprint of a “HeliaSol” solar film is less than 10 g CO₂ per kilowatt hour of solar power generated.
New DNK declaration online
For the third time, Cologne/Bonn Airport has published a sustainability declaration in accordance with the criteria of the German Sustainability Code (DNK). The DNK declaration refers to the 2024 reporting year. It is now available to the public on the DNK homepage, the airport website, and the airport's neighborhood portal.
The DNK is a cross-industry transparency standard developed by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE). It specifies 20 criteria and selected performance indicators that are used to record sustainability efforts on an annual basis.
Modern energy infrastructure
The airport will be investing many millions of euros in its energy infrastructure over the coming years in order to reduce consumption and become less dependent on fossil fuels. In addition to the continuous expansion of its photovoltaic systems, the airport is also focusing on emission-free heating and cooling using ice storage technology in combination with PV systems and heat pumps. Furthermore, the airport has invested in a substation and is building a new wood-fired power plant. In addition, the airport's own combined heat and power plant was modernized in 2022.
Further information on the airport's sustainability activities is available at www.cgn-nebenan.de.
