Pictured at Cork Airport, marking Cork Airport’s ranking as Best Performing Commercial Semi-State Body for Energy Savings by SEAI for two years running were (L-R) David Crowley, Sustainability Specialist, Cork Airport; Marion O’Brien, Director of Corporate Services, SEAI Ireland; Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director, Cork Airport and Eoin Maguire, Electrical Project Manager, Cork Airport.
Photography: Brian Lougheed
Cork Airport has been ranked as the best performing commercial state body in Ireland for energy savings for the second year running, according to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) in their Annual Report 2022 on Public Sector Energy Efficiency Performance.
The report, which is prepared by SEAI for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications details the energy reduction and greenhouse gas emissions results of approximately 4,000 public bodies (348 public bodies and 3,669 schools) across the country. Cork Airport, as a commercial semi-state body, sits in a category of 28 other commercial state bodies.
Over the past number of years, Cork Airport has reduced its energy consumption through the introduction of a number of sustainable energy initiatives including retrofitting of lighting across the airport campus, the replacement of diesel vehicles with fully electric vehicles and the reduction in gas and electricity usage through advanced energy management and monitoring systems. Cork Airport has a strong foundation in energy management, having previously won first place in the Public Sector category at the SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards in 2014.
As indicated in the Climate Action Plan 2021, public bodies are committed to a target reduction of 51% energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, a 50% improvement in energy efficiency and a requirement for 50% of space heating to be from renewable sources. As a further indication of Cork Airport’s commitment to sustainable energy, the airport will invest in a new, state of the art solar farm which will generate up to 25% of the airport’s electricity requirements into the future. This project will advance to planning application in the next 12 months with a view to being commissioned in 2025.
David Crowley, Sustainability Specialist, at Cork Airport, said:
“With increased focus on sustainability, energy efficiency and decarbonisation by our regulators and passengers, Cork Airport is fully committed to meeting and beating our government’s energy and carbon reduction targets and have a clearly defined strategy to do so.”
Niall MacCarthy, Managing Director, at Cork Airport said:
“SEAI is the authority on energy reporting in Ireland. We have a strong business strategy in Cork Airport which majors on sustainable growth, whilst delivering operational excellence in safety, security and passenger standards. We have set ourselves demanding key performance indicators in energy and carbon reduction and this confirmation by SEAI that we are the top Irish commercial semi-state body is a strong testament to our team here and their commitment to sustainability.”
Marion O’Brien, Director of Corporate Services, at SEAI Ireland said:
“SEAI wish to congratulate the team at Cork Airport on their sustainable energy achievements and in providing leadership within their commercial semi-state category, as well as being an exemplar for the public sector in general. It is great to see this demonstration of decarbonisation in action and that sustainability is at the centre of the business model at Cork Airport. We are delighted to work with such a willing partner and Staff and Passengers will soon have a visible example of their decarbonisation commitment when the new solar farm is constructed.”
