Finnair Cargo is making a move towards fully self-sustainable energy production in November – just in time to celebrate Finnair’s 100th birthday. Throughout the summer and autumn months, Finnair Cargo has installed an additional 1790 solar panels to the roof of its COOL Nordic Cargo Hub at Helsinki Airport in Finland. These join 1200 panels installed when the terminal was originally constructed and provide enough energy on sunny days to sustain the cargo space in full and feed surplus energy to other Finnair facilities. 

“With this addition, the COOL Nordic Cargo Hub will be the third largest solar panel energy production unit in Finland. At the maximum level, the solar power station can produce over 1,1 MW peaks, more than tripling our production”, says SVP Finnair Cargo Gabriela Hiitola.

After the COOL solar park upgrade, solar panels produce the equivalent of 37% of annual COOL electricity consumption. On a sunny day, the COOL terminal is completely self-sufficient in terms of electricity production and the excess production will be fed to other Finnair facilities.

The COOL Cargo terminal, opened in 2018 was designed with sustainability principles in mind. In addition to the solar panels providing part of the energy needed for the terminal’s operations, both operational efficiency and waste management have been carefully planned. 

Additionally, Finnair is also installing 645 solar panels on the roof of a hangar building used for aircraft maintenance. The solar panel installations are part of Finnair’s sustainability program during its centenary year.

“It is clear that the aviation industry is still waiting for those big solutions to reduce flight emissions. However, in the meantime we keep on working towards more sustainable operations in all areas”, says Hiitola.