Brussels Airport to sell electricity to nearby homes

Brussels Airport is launching a pilot project to sell solar power, generated by panels at the airport, to residents of surrounding municipalities.

The airport operator promises a discount “which for an average household amounts to about €124 off their annual energy bill,” according to the airport.

The pilot project is running in collaboration with energy platform Bolt. The first 100 families from Kortenberg, Machelen, Steenokkerzeel and Zaventem who sign up will receive power from the airport's solar panels from February. After a year, they can choose their next energy supplier.

The solar panels at Brussels Airport currently supply some 9,200 megawatt hours of green power per year, which the airport operator wants to increase to 24,000 megawatt hours by 2027.

The initiative is part of an ambition to have zero carbon emissions from the airport’s operations by 2030. This concerns, for example, the buildings and infrastructure managed by the airport operator, but not the CO₂ emitted by aircraft.

With the pilot project, Brussels Airport said it wanted to “test on a small scale the practical feasibility of such a participation project between an airport and its local residents”.

The pilot is also part of the European project Stargate, in which Brussels Airport is working with a consortium of 21 partners to develop various initiatives for more sustainable airports and aviation.