Meadow in front of Terminal 1
Meadow in front of Terminal 1

Energy Supplies

Energy Supplies

Since the beginning of 2012, Schönefeld and Tegel Airports have been drawing around half of their electricity requirements from renewable sources. This corresponds roughly to the consumption of a small town of 35,000 inhabitants. Compared with an electricity supply with the conventional German electricity mix, around 36,500 t of CO₂ and around 50 kg of nuclear waste are saved.

 

The electricity supplied by enercity from Hannover is certified with the high-quality Gold Standard of the “Grüne Strom-Label e.V.”. The certification organisation, which is supported by environmental and consumer organisations, monitors the origin of electricity and the promotion of the expansion of renewable energies according to strict criteria.

Thanks to intelligent building air-conditioning, the BER terminal will be around 30% more energy-efficient than required by the 2007 Energy Saving Ordinance. One year after opening, all buildings in long-term use and their technical equipment will also be examined for further savings potential.

The airport covers the other half of its energy needs by operating highly efficient combined heat and power plants. In addition to electricity, the natural gas-powered modules supply heat that is stored or fed into the district heating network via reheating by the boilers. At higher outside temperatures, heat from the exhaust gas is used for air conditioning in the terminal. Whilst a gas-fired power plant used exclusively for electricity generation achieves an efficiency of 40% at most, the combined heat and power plant is expected to reach over 80% once the terminal is commissioned. In the medium term, the combined heat and power plants operated by E.ON edis are to run entirely on regionally produced renewable raw materials.