Brussels Airport launches affordable green energy initiative for local households

January 19, 2025

One hundred households from the four municipalities neighbouring Brussels Airport will have the opportunity to sign up to a year of green energy provided by Brussels Airport Company. With this pilot project, in collaboration with the energy platform Bolt and as part of the European Stargate project, Brussels Airport aims to examine the viability of such a scheme on a small scale. The airport operator is strongly committed to green energy, such as solar power, with the ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions for its own operations by 2030.The airport does not currently generate a surplus of green energy, but is expected to do so in the future.

Residents of Zaventem, Machelen, Steenokkerzeel, and Kortenberg can sign up through Bolt starting this week to receive a year of green energy from Brussels Airport Company. Starting February 2025, one hundred households will then receive locally generated green energy from the airport's solar panels at a more favourable tariff than the market price. This pilot project, part of Brussels Airport's European Stargate initiative, seeks to explore the feasibility of a small-scale participatory scheme between the airport and the surrounding residents.

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. This aligns with Brussels Airport Company's strategy as an airport operator to achieve net zero carbon emissions for its own operations by 2030.

Brussels Airport shares solar energy with neighbours via energy platform Bolt

In practical terms, neighbouring households can now sign up for this unique offer through the energy platform Bolt, which will handle the practical implementation. Once 100 households have signed up, the offer will no longer be available. Consumers need not take any further action; Bolt will ensure that their energy consumption is supplied by solar power from Brussels Airport. After this one-year pilot project, neighbouring households will have the option to switch to another supplier through Bolt or choose a different energy provider on their own.

For this pilot offer, Brussels Airport is providing a discount that equates to approximately €124 off the annual energy bill of an average household. After the pilot project, feedback from participating families will also be sought so that, in addition to practical experience, their user experience can be taken into account for the future and shared with the other airports that are part of the Stargate project.

The project received funding under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement GA101037053.