Doing a power of good

We’ve made some great strides already. Since 2013 we've reduced our energy use in the terminal by more than 20%, an achievement which saw us win the 2017 Sustainable Business Network Ricoh ‘Efficiency Champion’ award. In 2014 we attracted international acclaim for our revolutionary artesian heating and cooling system which provides energy efficient climate control in our integrated terminal building.

We’re proud of our achievements – but we continue to do more. Looking ahead, we'll explore new ways to minimise both our own and our tenants' fuel consumption and carbon emissions through energy efficient practices and innovative solutions.

Ground Power Units

In 2016, we implemented four Ground Power Units (GPUs) to some of our aircraft stands. As their name suggests, GPUs power aircraft while they’re on the ground at the terminal. This saves them having to burn fuel to run their systems. Over the next couple of years, we'll be rolling them out to all of our jet aircraft stands. Because our GPUs use mostly renewable electricity to power the aircraft, they dramatically cut carbon emissions.

Did you know? Every day when the Emirates A380 flies into Christchurch it plugs into a GPU. This saves around 1,000kg of fuel and 3,150kg of carbon emissions on each turnaround.  

Electric Vehicle (EV) technology

We’re passionate about providing access to sustainable transport options for our staff, passengers, visitors and those who work on campus.   

As part of our effort to help boost the use of electric vehicles, we host two EV sharing schemes, Electric Day Pass and Zilch. 

We've also converted our entire corporate vehicle fleet to EVs and intend to sell them after three years to help create a second-hand EV market in Christchurch. We aim to have 100% of our light vehicle fleet run on electricity by 2025.

In 2018, we partnered with the Christchurch Agency for Energy (CAfE) to secure an EV charging station infrastructure grant. This grant was used to install six public EV charging stations in our Orchard Road car park. We also have two EV charging stations in our staff car park.   

We are committed to the EV revolution, and in June 2018 we became the first business in the South Island to sign up to EV100. This global movement is an initiative of The Climate Group, an international not-for-profit group whose members commit to becoming 100% electric by 2030.

Our energy priorities  

Energy efficiency and energy substitution  

• Eliminate the use of fossil fuels for all non-emergency operations 
• Embrace innovative methods to reduce energy consumption throughout our facilities, such as the integrated terminal building energy centre  
• Provide infrastructure for emerging technologies.  

Reducing operational emissions  

• Identify ageing plant equipment  
• Reduce on-ground carbon emissions of aircraft through the provision of Fixed-Electrical Ground Power (FEGP) at all contact stands
• Use ground source heat-pumps for heating and cooling  
• Transition towards a 100% EV fleet and infrastructure at the airport.