TUI Chief Sustainability Officer Thomas Ellerbeck in conversation during the inauguration of BRU maintenance hangar's rooftop solar park.
TUI Group is now generating over half of the electricity powering its engineering and maintenance hangar at Brussels Airport (BRU) via a rooftop solar park, a project that involved ensuring panel reflections would not affect the eyesight of pilots flying in and out of the airport.
The hangar handles fleet maintenance and technical support for TUI fly Belgium, the German leisure tourism group’s subsidiary airline based at BRU. The carrier operates a fleet of 15 Boeing 737s, four Airbus A320s and three Embraer E170 aircraft, according to CAPA fleet data.
TUI contracted Dutch firm Eneco Solar to install 1,358 solar panels on the hangar’s roof, providing an estimated annual production of approximately 800 MWh of power, “equivalent to the average electricity consumption of about 230 Belgian households,” the group noted. TUI said 53% of the hangar’s electricity consumption comes from the rooftop panels.
TUI noted installing a rooftop solar park on airport grounds “presented a unique technical and administrative challenge,” in part because of “strict safety and visibility requirements for pilots” flying in and out of BRU.
“The project began with a structural stability study of the hangar to ensure the building’s safety,” TUI said. “A roof and energy yield analysis was then carried out to guarantee the durability of the installation and the investment’s viability. Finally, technical adjustments to the existing lightning protection system were necessary.”
According to the group, the primary obstacle was ensuring that reflections off the panels would not affect pilots. Before BRU gave approval, TUI conducted a glare study and technical analysis of how reflections could potentially present a safety problem.
“Low-reflective solar panels were chosen in accordance with the specific safety regulations applicable within the airport zone,” TUI said.
The BRU fire department and the local electrical grid operator also had to sign off on the project. Around 30% of the power generated by the solar park is being fed into the local grid.
Thomas Ellerbeck, TUI’s chief sustainability officer, said the project demonstrated an airline can generate solar energy to power maintenance facilities “even in a complex airport environment.”
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