An 11-acre solar farm is to be constructed on Edinburgh Airport’s airfield as the airport publishes its sustainability strategy.
The announcement follows the airport confirming carbon neutral status for emissions under its direct control.
The solar farm, the first of its kind at a Scottish airport, should provide 26% of the airport’s energy needs and construction is due to begin later this year.
The facility is expected to be operational next summer and has been supported by Scottish Government funding of £2m.
The project is one element of the airport’s new Greater Good plan, which sets out how the airport will work towards being more sustainable now and in the future.
The strategy has a number of targets within it, such as achieving carbon neutrality for direct emissions by 2024, establishing a campus wide sustainability standard, as well as a Cleaner Engine Standard.
It also takes into account some of the work already being carried out at the airport, such as purchasing 100% renewable electricity since 2018, diverting all waste from landfill and paying all staff the Real Living Wage.
Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: “For an island economy, travel is an important reality and we need to have a sensible conversation about how to balance the desire and need to travel - whether to see family or do business - in the wake of the pandemic and making our industry cleaner and greener.
“We are excited to be the UK’s first airport to construct a solar farm on an airfield - some may doubt the power of sun in Scotland, but our solar farm will deliver around a quarter of our energy needs and allow us to deliver energy back into the grid when we produce more than we need.”
Minister for Transport Graeme Dey said: “The solar farm illustrates how government and the aviation industry can work together to help achieve Scotland’s ambitious climate change targets.
“Together, we can look to create a future in which we enjoy the social and economic benefits of air travel without having an impact on the environment.”
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