JFK Airport’s New Terminal Will Be Powered By Largest Rooftop Solar Array in New York City
January 31st, 2023

Via Business Insider, a report on New York’s JFK airport’s new terminal, which will be powered by a microgrid and the largest rooftop solar array in New York City:

  • A new terminal at New York’s JFK will be partly powered by a microgrid, batteries, and fuel cells.
  • AlphaStruxure, the project developer, said that would produce 38% less greenhouse-gas emissions. 
  • The planned 23-gate terminal was started in September, and the first gates are set to open in 2026.

A massive transformation of New York City’s largest airport is underway, and developers are touting its sustainability credentials. 

John F. Kennedy International Airport’s $9.5 billion New Terminal One will be partly powered by a microgrid with 11.34 megawatts of electricity from rooftop solar, gas fuel cells, and battery storage. A system that captures waste heat from the fuel cells will chill and warm water.

AlphaStruxure, a joint venture of the private equity firm Carlyle Group and France’s Schneider Electric, announced Thursday that it would construct and operate the energy project after winning a contract from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, and the New Terminal One consortium, a privately financed group of labor, operating, and financial partners.

“Solving our energy challenge really comes down to three things: electrifying, digitizing, and decarbonizing by getting more electricity from renewable sources. Microgrids are key to achieving all of this,” Annette Clayton, the CEO of Schneider Electric North America, said during a press briefing.

The rooftop solar array — made up of more than 13,000 panels — will be the largest in New York City and at any US airport terminal, AlphaStruxure said.

The microgrid is expected to generate about what 3,570 average US homes would use in a year. Each “power island,” with fuel cells and battery storage, will be digitized and automated. The islands can operate independently, though they’ll be interconnected as one system. Three are set to be completed by 2026, with the final power island coming online by 2029, AlphaStruxure said.

The microgrid will allow New Terminal One to operate independently of the city’s power grid — maybe indefinitely — in case of an emergency like extreme weather, Juan Macias, the CEO of AlphaStruxure, said. The system will also produce 38% less greenhouse-gas emissions compared with sourcing all electricity from the grid, according to AlphaStruxure. 

Installing fuel cells, instead of diesel generators, is estimated to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide, a toxic air pollutant, by 98%, Macias added. The fuel cells will use natural gas from the power grid but are designed to accommodate greener fuels as those are commercialized, such as hydrogen made from renewable energy. 

The terminal will feature large, naturally lit public spaces and amenities designed to enhance travelers’ experiences, according to the New Terminal One consortium.

Construction began in September. The first of 23 gates are expected to open in 2026, and the work is set to be completed by 2030.


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About This Blog And Its Author
As potential uses for building and parking lot roofspace continue to grow, unique opportunities to understand and profit from this trend will emerge. Roof Options is committed to tracking the evolving uses of roof estate – spanning solar power, rainwater harvesting, wind power, gardens & farms, “cooling” sites, advertising, apiculture, and telecom transmission platforms – to help unlock the nascent, complex, and expanding roofspace asset class.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has held a lifelong interest in environmental and conservation issues, primarily as they relate to freshwater scarcity, renewable energy, and national park policy. Working from a water-scarce base in Las Vegas with his wife and son, he is the founder of Water Politics, an organization dedicated to the identification and analysis of geopolitical water issues arising from the world’s growing and vast water deficits, and is also a co-founder of SmartMarkets, an eco-preneurial venture that applies web 2.0 technology and online social networking innovations to motivate energy & water conservation. He previously worked for an independent power producer in Central Asia; co-authored an article appearing in the Summer 2010 issue of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal, titled: “The Water Ethic: The Inexorable Birth Of A Certain Alienable Right”; and authored an article appearing in the inaugural issue of Johns Hopkins University's Global Water Magazine in July 2010 titled: “H2Own: The Water Ethic and an Equitable Market for the Exchange of Individual Water Efficiency Credits.”