Saturday, July 6, 2024
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Skytanking has introduced specially designed high-flow electric fuel dispensers at Brussels Airport, enhancing the process of refuelling directly from tunnel systems to aircraft. Featuring a pioneering electric structure, the dispensers arrived on 26 April and represent a leap forward in reducing local environmental impacts by reducing noise and emissions.
Brussels Airport, through the European Union’s Green Deal initiative called Project Stargate, is actively seeking cutting-edge ways to make the airport industry more sustainable. In 2022, as part of this project, SkyTanking embarked on a rigorous testing phase with fully electric fuel dispensers. Originally diesel-powered and redesigned in Belgium with components from Turkish fuel services company Fuel Services, the vehicles underwent evaluations to understand their energy use, influenced by factors such as aircraft type, airport movement distances and changing weather conditions.
Following these trials, Skytanking partnered with Atcomex BV and Fuso to create fully electric fuel dispensers. Designed on a globally replicable electric architecture, these units meet stringent safety standards and are ready for widespread adoption across global platforms.
“These electric fuel dispensers are state-of-the-art and specially designed, adapted to the insights provided by the tests,” he says. Amir Ibrahim, Chairman of Sky Tanking Company“The new vehicles use at least twice as much energy as the equipment tested last year, effectively reducing CO2 emissions and noise, making them environmentally friendly and easy to use, which is important for the local environment and for ground handling staff.”
“The goal of the Stargate project is to explore new technologies and innovations that could make the entire European airport and aviation industry more sustainable,” he says. Sylvie Van Den Eynde, Head of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs, Brussels Airport Company“These innovative new vehicles represent an important step in decarbonising all types of ground handling vehicles. The results of our Stargate projects will allow the same principles and projects to be replicated at other airports across Europe, even beyond the scope of the initial programme.”
In a first for Europe, Skytanking has deployed these lithium-ion battery-powered fuel dispensers, designed to manage high fuel flow rates using a conventional industrial structure. The aim is for each dispenser to fuel between 15 and 25 aircraft per day on a single charge.
