In 2021, Turin Airport became a partner of the European consortium H2020 TULIPS: the consortium led by Royal Schiphol Group, the management company of Amsterdam and Rotterdam Airport, consists of 31 entities, including airports, airlines, universities and research and training institutes, and industrial partners.
The TULIPS project responds to the objectives set by the European Green Deal, and is aimed at developing innovations that facilitate the transition to low-emission mobility, improving the overall sustainability of airports and introducing sustainable fuels and carbon sequestration in the aviation sector.
Of particular interest in the context of ongoing sustainability programs, the airport's contribution concerns:
- the development of a smart airport energy hub that includes the use of various energy sources and storage systems through the implementation of a pilot for the production of hydrogen through an electrolyser powered by renewable energy;
- the creation of shared decarbonisation roadmaps, which exploit the knowledge acquired within the project;
- the study of scenarios for the future power supply of aircraft including the use of SAF, hydrogen and electricity;
- the development and testing of hydrogen-powered ground support equipment;
- experiments on biochar to study its contribution to CO2 sequestration.
In collaboration with the Politecnico di Torino, systems for the use of hydrogen for airport activities and the creation of smart energy hubs are being tested. In particular, a pilot project was carried out in preparation for the launch of an airport smart grid through which the first green hydrogen production plant in an Italian airside has been in operation since July 2024. The project involves the use of a combined and flexible system, powered by different energy sources such as natural gas, hydrogen, photovoltaics, as well as energy storage systems.
