Airport Microgrids: Transportation Energy as a Service [Viewpoint]

Abstract

HERE ARE 19,678 AIRPORTS, heliports, seaplane bases, and other landing facilities in the United States and its territories. Among them, 3,332 are included in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems; they are open to the public and eligible for federal funding via the agency's Airport Improvement Program. Out of the total number of airports, 14,583 are for public use, and 5,105 are private. Six are owned by the U.S. Coast Guard, 96 by the U.S. Air Force, and 69 by the U.S. Navy; 137 are military owned, 14,408 are privately held, and 4,901 are publicly maintained. There are types of airports based on two definitions: statuary and policy. Among statuary airports, there are 395 primary facilities, including large, medium, small, and nonhub commercial service airfields, and 2,937 nonprimary airports, including nonhub commercial service, reliever, and general aviation terminals. Considering policy airports, there are four classifications, including 89 national, 531 regional, 1,261 local, and 813 basic airfields, in addition to 256 unclassified facilities. Airport infrastructure supports different transportation modes, including ground (transit buses, railways, cargo vehicles, and so on) and aviation (commercial and cargo planes as well as helicopters). Opportunities and Challenges Aviation operation is evaluated based on the safety, economic, environmental,

Airport Microgrid and Its Incorporated Operations

“…However, less research and existing airport microgrids have been seen until now. Although some applications of PV and/or energy storage devices in airports are found [15][16][17], systematic and complete airport microgrids are still rare. The slow progress being achieved is perhaps due to reliability concerns, conservative thinking, more strict requirements, a lack of related regulations and standards to follow [15], etc.…”

“…Although some applications of PV and/or energy storage devices in airports are found [15][16][17], systematic and complete airport microgrids are still rare. The slow progress being achieved is perhaps due to reliability concerns, conservative thinking, more strict requirements, a lack of related regulations and standards to follow [15], etc. An experimental airport DC microgrid is developed in this paper, and the related key technologies of schematic and control schemes are developed.…”