Dublin Airport has been awarded EU funding to install electric charging points and roll out electric shuttle buses.
It is one of 39 projects selected from across the EU for a share of €422 million “alternative fuels” funding.
Dublin Airport has been allocated €4.7 million from the fund. That builds on a €288 million loan towards green projects at the airport secured from the European Investment Bank last year.
“The project aims to contribute to the decarbonisation of activities of the Dublin Airport, with the installation of charging stations and the related electric infrastructure to be used for airport airside buses and GSE (Ground Support Equipment) vehicles”, the European Commission said.
Dublin Airport “will also deploy infrastructure for recharging shuttle e-buses operating at the airport.”
Other projects that secured funding include a network of fast-charging points for vans in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, charging stations along roads connecting Romania and Greece, and two hydrogen refueling stations in Germany.
The European Commission says the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) will “support these initiatives in driving the transition to cleaner transport.”
The largest share of the funding will go to a network of electric charging stations for lorries stretching from Austria to Sweden and the Netherlands.
The company behind that project, Milence, is a joint venture between Daimler and Volvo. It aims to roll out 1,700 high-performance public charging points for HGVs across Europe by 2027.
The European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said that the funding the EU is providing will help speed up achieving environmental ambitions for the sector.
“The 39 projects we are supporting today, will accelerate the deployment of critical recharging and refueling infrastructure needed for our expanding zero-emission fleets. Together, they will add nearly 5,000 new charging points, including 626 mega-watt chargers, helping citizens choose zero-emission vehicles and contribute to a cleaner environment.”
Dublin Airport has a range of environmental schemes it has promised to roll out in the coming years. Aside from charging points in the car parks and electric shuttle buses, the airport is also planning to build its own solar farm.
Once complete, solar energy will provide more than 10 percent of its electricity needs, the airport says.
Dublin Airport is celebrating 85 years since the first flight took off this year.
The EU has committed to net zero by 2050. The European Commission believes more efficient operations and greener technology at airports will play a part in achieving net zero for the airline industry.