January-February 2022 - 23

COVER STORY
Over 9,000 solar panels are located on
airport property as part of the microgrid.
ALLEGHENY COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY
are able to start on their own without
any outside power available.
" Airports across the country have
been exploring ways to increase power
resilience and reliability after several
high-profile power outages resulted
in thousands of cancelled flights and
passenger disruptions. As PIT is in the
midst of a new terminal construction
project building the smartest airport in
the world, creating smart power infrastructure
is a key step that can serve
as a blueprint for others, " Woodrow
continued.
Wooddrow said the benefits of the
microgrid have so far been numerous,
but fall into four main categories:
* Increase the power resilience of
the airport
* Support the airport's sustainability
goals
* Decrease utility costs to the airport
and their partners
* Support the local natural gas
industry
" Some upgrades and improvements
were needed to some existing electrical
switchgear, and a new transformer was
required to tie the energy plant into the
existing airport electrical system. The
teams were able to make use of significant
spans of existing/spare underground
conduit for new cables associated with
the microgrid, which was very beneficial
to the overall project, " Woodrow said.
Woodrow added that work on the
microgrid did not interfere with airport
operations. All testing with airport electrical
systems was done overnight.
The microgrid is not only a benefit
for the airport, but the surrounding community
and environment. The microgrid
allows Pittsburgh International Airport
to be one of the most site-hardened airports
in the world. The resilience and
redundancy of the microgrid will allow
the airport to stay open for business in
the event of regional power outage. The
microgrid enhances the overall customer
experience and safety at the airport.
And natural gas is a cleaner burning
fuel than traditional coal-fired power
plants. The use of natural gas for the
energy generation is estimated to reduce
CO2 emissions regionally by approximately
8,000,000 pounds per year
" This project capitalized on the
Pittsburgh region's innovation as well
as abundant and low cost natural gas
that can be used as fuel for generating
electricity. The combination of technologies
used on our project may not
be the right approach for everyone.
Additionally, projects like this require a
lawyer who is experienced in alternative
energy and microgrid developments. An
experienced lawyer helps navigate the
process - which will likely have technical
and regulatory hurdles - and assists
with developing a legal agreement that
minimizes risk, " Woodrow said. 
SnowBOSS: Clearing
the Way to Safe,
Efficient Runway
Operations
SnowBOSS software keeps airport snow removal teams
safer while managing the pressures and demands of
snow and ice removal, especially in reduced visibility.
An extension of Leonardo's AeroBOSS® runway incursion
warning system, SnowBOSS reduces the likelihood
of accidents by allowing supervisors to monitor and
coordinate all snow removal vehicles and by making
equipment operators aware of all vehicles in the
vicinity. At major hubs and smaller airports, reducing
snow removal risk with SnowBOSS allows your
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Made in the USA
leonardocompany-us.com
Helicopters | Aeronautics | Electronics, Defense & Security Systems | Space
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January-February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January-February 2022
