Oakland International Airport (OAK) announced Aug. 30, that it has received $3.2 million from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as part of the agency’s Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which allocates federal funding to US airports. The AIP will fund infrastructure improvements at 67 airports in 29 states. The discretionary funds for OAK will be awarded in the form of a Volunteer Airport Low Emissions (VALE) grant.
OAK plans to provide electrical infrastructure to support the purchase and installation of 25 dual-port, common-use Electric Charging Stations for electric-powered ground service equipment (eGSE) with the grant funds. The improvements will take place on the Terminal 1 ramp, supporting OAK’s airline tenants’ use of GSE in lieu of conventional fueled (gasoline or diesel) GSE.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee said, “I am pleased that Oakland International Airport has been awarded this critical funding from the Federal Aviation Administration to continue its work to improve its infrastructure and ensure that the highest air quality is provided to its passengers, workers, and the entire East Bay community.”
The new charging stations will primarily be used for ground operations associated with Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue, Norwegian, Volaris, Allegiant, Azores, LEVEL, and British Airways. These airlines and/or their respective ground handling agents have committed to converting a portion of their GSE fleet to electric in accordance with this effort.
Bryant L. Francis, Port of Oakland Director of Aviation at OAK says, “We are so pleased to have the support of our airline partners as we work to reduce the Airport’s carbon footprint. As Oakland International continues to increase in passengers and destinations, and improve our terminal facilities, this grant will allow us to grow with care. With it, we are improving air quality for our fence-line communities and making a positive step forward in contributing to worker health and safety for those employed to operate ground service vehicles at OAK.”
While OAK’s Terminal 2 has had similar infrastructure in place to charge eGSE at all of its 13 gates since 2007, this new funding will bring similar infrastructure to the 16 gates in Terminal 1. The improvements at OAK involve the conversion of 17 baggage tractors, 16 belt loaders, and 6 aircraft pushback tractors.
It is anticipated that the construction phase will get underway in December 2017. The new infrastructure would go into use by August 2018.
Oakland International has benefited from VALE grants in the past, including $2.3 million for Remote Ground Power in 2010 and $2.2 million for Pre-Conditioned Air (PCA) in 2013.
The local contractor for the project is SilMan Construction.
