The Spanish national air navigation manager, ENAIRE, put into operation two new photovoltaic plants at the control centers of Seville and the Canary Islands, as part of its Green Sky environmental initiative framed in the Flight Plan 2025 strategy.
Also, the projects for bringing photovoltaic energy to Barcelona and Madrid have already been awarded and will represent ENAIRE’s two largest self-consumption plants, with an estimated annual production of about 3.2 GWh. With the 4 active plants, ENAIRE will produce 4.17 GWh, which represents 17% of the electricity consumption of these facilities.
«On the way to reach CO2 neutrality by 2030, ENAIRE has registered its Carbon Footprint with the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge. This registration represents the fulfillment of the first phase, called ‘Calculation’, for achieving the neutrality goal. In the next few years, it is planned to complete the rest of the phases: ‘I reduce’ and ‘I compensate'», states the statement issued by the Spanish air navigation manager.
ENAIRE’s Environmental Strategy, framed in the Flight Plan 2025, is based on three lines of action:
- the reduction of atmospheric emissions (‘Fly Clean’),
- the attenuation of the noise levels in the airports’ surroundings (‘Fly Quiet’),
- improving the environmental management of its own centers and facilities throughout the country (‘Eco-ENAIRE’).
Some data on the reduction of the environmental impact of the operations managed by ENAIRE
According to ENAIRE, the efficiency of the Spanish route network was 97.7% in 2021, exceeding that achieved in 2019. This improvement means a saving of about 10,500 tons of fuel and a reduction of 33,000 tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
«As additional measures for protecting our skies, 81% of the flights operated in 2021 by ENAIRE were carried out with continuous climb; 70% were direct flights and, 35%, landed with continuous descent», they informed.
See also: Green Sky, ENAIRE’s new environmental strategy for sustainable aviation