LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is building a new geothermal system that will substantially reduce its carbon footprint and utility costs.
Airport, city, and state leaders broke ground Thursday on the $21.7 million project. When complete, it will be the largest project of its kind at any airport in the U.S.
In the next two to three weeks, crews will clear a 9-acre field. They will then start installing 648 wells that will be 500 feet deep. CMTA, a local consulting engineering firm, recently did some test wells and said the design would be feasible for the airport.
"The way this works is — and the reason it's efficient is — that it circulates water into the ground, which has a natural heating and cooling ability," said Dan Mann with the Louisville Airport Authority. "It's super energy efficient and reduces our energy consumption by 40%."
Eventually, the wells will be connected by water pipes to the terminal in order to power the mechanical systems inside. Mann said these systems were 20 years old, outdated, failing and needed to be replaced anyway. So the airport decided to make environmentally-focused improvements in the process with this geothermal system. And it's designed with the coronavirus pandemic and public health in mind, too.
"The travelling public probably won't see this, but they'll feel it," Mann said. "After the coronavirus hit, we talk about air circulation. And how safe is it to be in these enclosed environments? Well, this is an added benefit of this geothermal system to improve air quality."
This project is expected to reduce the airport's carbon footprint by 80% and cut $400,000 out of the airport's annual $1.7 million utility bill.
"Good for the environment and good for the budget. So it's really a win-win," Mann said. "We're out here doing a lot of things for economic development and planes coming and going, but we still care about the environment."
The airport got a $10.6 million grant from the FAA, which will cover about half of the project's cost.
Once the wells are complete, the field will be repurposed and paved. This new parking lot will be used for Kentucky Derby overflow parking, UPS peak-season parking and to park extra carriers as the airport plans to add more in the future.
The future mechanical system upgrades inside the terminal are not included in the geothermal project budget. Those will be an additional $35 to $40 million.
This is all part of the $400 million SDF NEXT project, which includes several improvements and upgrades over the next several years. Some of the next projects slated for the near future include baggage claim improvements, security upgrades, replacing lights inside the terminal, new restrooms, and 25 new jet bridges.
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