Airport is living off the land

Living off the land has a slightly different meaning for Pittsburgh International Airport these days as the facility now uses the natural gas from below its property and the sun from above to provide all of the power needed to run it.

It’s the culmination of a three-year project to build a microgrid consisting of the construction of a natural gas-powered generating station and the installation of more than 9,000 solar panels to capture energy from the sun. Airport officials have reason to celebrate the accomplishment and should keep moving forward with future plans to expand power generation at the facility.

Officials recently announced that the microgrid, which routes power produced onsite to the terminal and other buildings, is now active. The onsite power protects the facility from blackouts and disruptions, and excess power is sold back into the regional electric grid. The cost reduction is substantial: Officials estimate it will save the airport $500,000 a year in electricity costs.

Allegheny County Airport Authority officials made a wise decision in 2018 when they launched the microgrid project and, a year later, awarded Peoples Natural Gas a 20year contract to build and operate the grid. The natural gas power plant has a capacity of 21 megawatts to provide the power needed at the airport and then some.

The solar array has a smaller peak capacity of 3 megawatts but serves some 20 buildings outside the terminal. And officials are considering adding another 14,000 panels to further boost capacity, a nod to the increasing potential for renewable energy sources.

Officials said other airports have microgrids to provide power for portions of their operations — and to serve as backups in the event of power disruptions — but Pittsburgh International is the first to be completely powered by natural gas and solar. It’s a wise use of the resources available to provide uninterrupted power to the airport.