Source code for publication titled: Assessing the Impact of Emerging Aircraft Concepts on Airport Energy Infrastructure

This code shall be published as supplementary material to the publication titled “Assessing the Impact of Emerging Aircraft Concepts on Airport Energy Infrastructure” by Diana Maldonado Castro, Patrik Schönfeldt, Marc. C Gelhausen, Fabian Baier, Daniel Silberhorn, Georgi Atanasov and Karsten Von Maydell. This code implements a multi-objective optimization framework for airport energy infrastructure planning. It integrates renewable energy sources (wind parks), hydrogen technologies (electrolyzers, fuel cells, liquefaction), thermal storage, and battery systems to evaluate techno-economic trade-offs in airport energy supply chains.

 

Driven by strategic goals to diversify fuel supply and reduce fossil-fuel import dependence, the aviation sector is advancing hydrogen-powered and battery-electric aircraft technologies. However, integrating these concepts poses significant challenges for airport energy infrastructure. This study investigates the design of an optimized energy system for a mid-size airport, capable of handling liquid hydrogen (LH2) and electricity demand from emerging aircraft, based on a detailed flight schedule projection for 2050. We employed an open-source mixed-integer linear programming algorithm in conjunction with a heuristic optimization approach. This multi-objective optimization considered three primary objectives: capital annuity, operation annuity, and grid capacity, to identify optimal solutions. For the specific use case and cost structure, we find that partial on-site hydrogen production (up to 6.2%) occurs at LH2 prices below 9.5 €/kg, utilizing only surplus local renewable electricity, with total annuity costs reaching up to 185 M€/a. Conversely, when LH2 prices exceed 15.5 €/kg, purchasing electricity for on-site LH2 production becomes economically preferable over off-site LH2 purchase, achieving up to 99.1% self-sufficiency at total annuity costs of up to 280 M€/a. We also examine the grid requirements of different solutions and demonstrate that certain infrastructure investments remain robust across price scenarios, requiring only operational adaptation rather than redesign. Furthermore, we demonstrate that increased capital investment in energy infrastructure can significantly lower imported energy costs, enabling novel energy strategies for airports.