Finnair Cargo moves towards self-sufficient energy production

Finnair Cargo moving towards fully self-sustainable energy production in November – just in time to celebrate Finnair’s 100th birthday.

Finnair Cargo has installed an additional 1,790 solar panels to the roof of its COOL Nordic Cargo Hub at Helsinki Airport in Finland, says an official release. These join 1,200 panels installed when the terminal was originally constructed and provide enough energy on sunny days to sustain the cargo space in full and feed surplus energy to other Finnair facilities.

“With this addition, the COOL Nordic Cargo Hub will be the third largest solar panel energy production unit in Finland. At the maximum level, the solar power station can produce over 1.1 MW peaks, more than tripling our production”, says Gabriela Hiitola, SVP, Finnair Cargo.

After the COOL solar park upgrade, solar panels produce the equivalent of 37 percent of annual COOL electricity consumption, the release said. "On a sunny day, the COOL terminal is completely self-sufficient in terms of electricity production and the excess production will be fed to other Finnair facilities."

Finnair is also installing 645 solar panels on the roof of a hangar building used for aircraft maintenance.

“It is clear that the aviation industry is still waiting for those big solutions to reduce flight emissions. However, in the meantime, we keep on working towards more sustainable operations in all areas”, says Hiitola.