Agreement made to finance airport vehicle charging columns by SEA and CINEA

CINEA and SEA have signed an agreement for the financing of airport vehicle charging columns.

An agreement has been signed between CINEA (the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency) and SEA (Systems, Engineering and Assessment Ltd.) for the financing of airport vehicle charging columns and fixed power supply infrastructure for aircraft under the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) programme.

This is the first project of its kind to be financed at an Italian airport. In Europe, similar projects have already been initiated at the Paris (Orly), Riga, Vilnius and Kaunas airports.

Climate change is a global challenge and airports are also committed to achieving the net zero CO2 emissions target set by ACI Europe by 2050. Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa, along with 91 other European airports, are ready to accelerate the process that will lead to achieving zero emissions by 2030. This is why SEA is working on several projects and eMAGO is among the most important in advancing the electrification process of Milan’s airports.

The total value of the financing is €4,401,000, while the total cost of the project is €14,670,000. The eMAGO project will run for 36 months and involves installing aircraft ground power units on the aprons of Linate and Malpensa airports to supply power to aircraft at the airport during parking and ground handling operations, thereby avoiding the use of on-board generators and mobile diesel generators.

A significant number of charging stations will also be set up for electric vehicles used in airport operations, such as the transfer of cargo and passengers between aircraft and terminals, the transport of personnel for loading and unloading services, cleaning, maintenance, etc. These new recharging infrastructures are essential to complete the electrification process of airport vehicles and equipment, which SEA initiated in 2020 by replacing 50% of passenger buses at Malpensa with electrically powered models, and which involves the complete replacement of the company’s fleet of vehicles (cars and vans) with 70% electric and the remainder hybrid.

Giorgio Medici, Head of Environment and Funded Initiatives at SEA, said: “SEA has long been introducing technologies and working on projects to accelerate the transition towards more sustainable air transport to achieve its zero emissions target. Thanks to the funding we have obtained, we can now take major steps forward in the electrification process of our airports by working on the ground vehicles that are under our direct responsibility and on the supply of energy to aircraft in transit at our airports.”

Richard Ferrer, Head of CINEA’s Alternative Fuels Sector, said: “by co-funding the eMAGO project, the European Union is supporting the decarbonisation of the aviation sector. The electrification of airport ground operations at Milan Linate and Milan Malpensa airports will be a turning point and an important first step on the road to net-zero emissions. In this sense, the eMAGO project will make a significant contribution to the European Green Deal.”

Milan’s airports, together with the other airports that have joined the emission reduction programme of ACI Europe, the international association of European airports, have achieved the most extraordinary result on record to date: from May 2021 to May 2022 they succeeded in reducing the total CO2 emissions under their control by 549,643 tonnes, corresponding to -8.1%.

The project will be presented to the European Parliament in November.