People who live next door to Brussels Airport might find their neighbourhood is an advantage rather than a pain over the coming year, as Brussels Airport Company gears up to offer residents in four nearby municipalities a year of low-cost green energy.
How does it work?
Under the project, households from Zaventem, Machelen, Steenokkerzeel, and Kortenberg are invited to apply to take part by signing up through Bolt. As early as February 2025, one hundred of them (chosen on a first come first served basis) will start receiving locally-generated green energy from the airport’s solar panels at a bargain price, or at least a tariff “more favourable” than the market offer. The scheme is slated to save each participating household around €124 compared to the average annual energy bill.
This February, 100 of households from our 4 municipalities around #brusselsairport will have the chance to enjoy a year of affordable green energy provided by Brussels Airport Company. Through this pilot project, in collaboration with Bolt and part of @Stargate_EU_gd project, we… pic.twitter.com/S21288dvFu
— Brussels Airport (@BrusselsAirport) January 20, 2025
Signing up is all participants have to do. Once the hundred places on the scheme are taken, Bolt will take care of the rest, ensuring that their energy consumption is supplied by solar power from Brussels Airport. At the end of the one-year pilot project, the participants will have the option to switch to another supplier through Bolt or choose a different energy provider on their own. Feedback will also be sought, so that the families involved can share their user experience and their ideas can be taken into account for the future and passed on to the other airports that are part of the Stargate project.
Why is the trial taking place?
The pilot scheme is a collaboration with the energy platform Bolt and part of the European Stargate project, which aims to strengthen European aviation while committing to the creation of green airports as sustainable, multimodal hubs. It is essentially a feasibility study or “small-scale participatory scheme between the airport and the surrounding residents”, press materials say.
Though the airport does not currently produce a surplus of energy, it is expected to start doing so in the near future. Approximately 9,200 megawatt-hours of green energy is already being produced on-site at Brussels Airport using solar panels. In 2024, an additional 65,000 m² of solar panels, equivalent to about nine football fields, was added to the cargo zone. The airport aims to reach 27 MWp, generating approximately 24,000 megawatt-hours per year, by 2027 – a target that aligns with Brussels Airport Company’s strategy as an airport operator to achieve net zero carbon emissions for its own operations by 2030.
