Solar energy powered airports, how viable locally?

[Eurest]

Any chance something like this will materialize for PH's secondary airports? Especially those located in power starved Mindanao?

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/india-launches-world-solar-powered-airport-150819064023397.html

10M$ seems reasonable considering the costs allotted to build the new regional airports, and it will be self sufficient.
Considering CAAP is losing money on the smaller airports

[Arianespace]

Caap eyes solar power in 81 airports to deal with 2015 supply shortage

MANILA, Philippines—The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) disclosed on Tuesday its plan to make all the 81 airports it has been running across the country solar-powered starting 2015 in the hope of cutting down CAAP’s operating costs.

CAAP director general William Hotchkiss III floated this idea during the the agency’s management meeting in Puerto Princesa City on Tuesday in Palawan, directing CAAP airport managers to form a special group to look into the project closely.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/112176/caap-eyes-solar-power-in-81-airports-to-deal-with-2015-supply-shortage

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has revealed plans a couple of weeks ago to start implementing its pilot projects in Mindanao, particularly its efforts towards creating green airports in the region.

http://www.interaksyon.com/lifestyle/solar-energy-in-mindanao-airports-as-part-of-civil-aviation-authoritys-green-project

Sad reality of this project is that it is still on the ground. It never flew because of the huge capital cost it entails in procuring one, as compared to just connecting to the grid which is 100 times cheaper.

In short, the Philippine government is not ready to pay for this noble but expensive project when other low cost power plants per megawatt is available. More so when Mindanao is plagued by brownouts due to inadequate supply of electricity.

One bright spot is right there rising in the island of Mactan. But that airport is no longer government owned after its operation and maintenance was sold to GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation (GMCAC) for a 25 year concession. It still has the Indian connection though with strong potential of being the first airport in the Philippines to be solar powered. There is also Caticlan airport which is under SMC. I don't see however both having designed their roof with solar panels.

 

[Eurest]

What regional airports have a nearby empty lot than can house a small solar farm

*edited the title, made it solar energy as some may be confused on the Solar TV guys that proposed the Sangley airport a while back

[romantic_guy08]

Eurest wrote

Any chance something like this will materialize for PH's secondary airports? Especially those located in power starved Mindanao?

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/india-launches-world-solar-powered-airport-150819064023397.html

10M$ seems reasonable considering the costs allotted to build the new regional airports, and it will be self sufficient.
Considering CAAP is losing money on the smaller airports

Coming from the Power Industry, the main challenge with Solar PVs is reliability and the amount of area needed to produce a large amount of power.

Our company will start to construct a solar farm in one of the provinces but instead of signing contracts with customers via bilateral agreements, it will be sold via FIT since solar power is not yet as reliable as other sources (i.e. Geo, Hydro, Coal). In the Philippines, we have a maximum of 4 solar hours (10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M) where solar radiation/heat is at its peak and where theoretically we can generate peak energy, after that output drops, depending on the conditions. And then you have the question of energy (MW x time) that can be sustained. You will be needing large batteries for this especially if the airport consumes a lot of power.

It may be visible as an alternative but the airport still needs to be connected to the grid.

[Arianespace]

The power loads of big secondary airports in the Philippines is 300KV, that is equivalent to 240Kw. And that excludes airports with ILS facility as rating goes up easily from 500 to 5000kw. Small domestic airports such as Jolo, Marinduque and Tawi-Tawi has 50-150kv rating.

I initially run an estimate based on the 59MW Negros Solar Energy Project, and the cost per kilowatt of electricity easily runs to 5.9 million pesos per kilowatt. That is a whooping 118 million for 200kw of power.

Yes it would be cheaper to buy a china-built 10k inverters, charge controllers, a multitude of solar panels, and battery banks, cost of which should settle around less than half a million,  but unfortunately airport demands are more than that. The higher the conversion rating (loads), the more expensive it get.

A hybrid operation could be possible with the battery banks powering only the terminal lights. A small terminal I know needs 1kw for lights alone. So even if you fill the roof with solar panels, energy needs would still be inadequate. One bright spot there is that if the airport is like Legaspi, you don't need to switch on all of them.  

[romantic_guy08]

Arianespace wrote

The power loads of big secondary airports in the Philippines is 300KV, that is equivalent to 240Kw. And that excludes airports with ILS facility as rating goes up easily from 500 to 5000kw. Small domestic airports such as Jolo, Marinduque and Tawi-Tawi has 50-150kv rating.

I initially run an estimate based on the 59MW Negros Solar Energy Project, and the cost per kilowatt of electricity easily runs to 5.9 million pesos per kilowatt. That is a whooping 118 million for 200kw of power.

Yes it would be cheaper to buy a china-built 10k inverters, charge controllers, a multitude of solar panels, and battery banks, cost of which should settle around less than half a million,  but unfortunately airport demands are more than that. The higher the conversion rating (loads), the more expensive it get.

A hybrid operation could be possible with the battery banks powering only the terminal lights. A small terminal I know needs 1kw for lights alone. So even if you fill the roof with solar panels, energy needs would still be inadequate. One bright spot there is that if the airport is like Legaspi, you don't need to switch on all of them.

For a 200-300kw demand, you need at a solar farm with at least a 1MW installed capacity.

[tigz]

Interesting issue but I can say something, even here in a much industrially advanced country, solar power don't come easy despite the preaches of "clean and green" environment. The reason is pretty obvious and its already mentioned, the big capital "C". Capital cost for this projects is the main hurdle no matter the long term gain so we are stuck with the cheapest and most efficient - nuclear power. You also have to take into account the structural engineering involved if in case there is money to spend for the panels because anchoring it for stability will impose loads on existing structures so you don't want to blow your investment in one blast of the wind. Very recently, one of our projects was to install solar panels in almost the entire roof of massive retail space you can compare with a typical SM. After the cost tally due to the wind loads, we have to forego least the project won't happen.