Friday, March 21, 2014

Sea-Tac to install 600 electric charging stations for ground support equipment

This week the Port of Seattle, in partnership with Alaska Airlines, Western Washington Clean Cities and U.S. Representative Adam Smith launched a new project that will install almost 600 electric charging stations throughout Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for ground support equipment (GSE) such as baggage tugs, bag ramps and pushback vehicles.

The new Sea-Tac project will save millions of dollars and tons of greenhouse gases, according to a port statement.  

Converting the GSE from fossil fuel to electric, each year the project is projected to save $2.8 million in airline fuel costs and 10,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions – the equivalent of taking 1,900 cars off the road. 

"This project provides the infrastructure for airlines to convert their vehicles from diesel to electric in Sea-Tac's effort to become the first major airport in the U.S. to provide charging stations at all gates," said Courtney Gregoire, co-president of the Port of Seattle Commission. "As many as 650 vehicles could eventually be covered by electric technology and make a huge difference in the airport's carbon footprint."

The $31 million project is funded in large part through federal grants. The U.S. Department of Energy provided $5 million through a grant with the Western Washington Clean Cities Coalition. An additional $3.5 million came from a Federal Aviation Administration grant. Part of the grant money is being used to help airlines fund the purchase of new electric vehicles. Additional airlines are scheduled to join the program later this year.  

Alaska Airlines has taken the lead in this green opportunity with 204 electric vehicles (146 with Alaska, 58 with Horizon) in operation on the ground at Sea-Tac.

The port has installed bright yellow charging corrals with smart, fast-charging plug-ins for vehicles to receive a full charge in less than 4 hours. The smart technology determines which vehicle needs the most charge and meters out the power.

This first phase of the project will install 296 charging locations throughout concourse D, C, and the north satellite. The second phase will cover the rest of the terminal at concourse A, B, and the south satellite for a total of 576 charging locations by September.

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