DALLAS — DFW International Airport will get $35 million from the federal government to cover some of the costs of a new zero-carbon power plant, part of an effort to cut the airport’s greenhouse emissions and hit ambitious environmental goals.
The $35 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration is part of the latest round of money coming to airports from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill passed in the fall. The Biden administration is set to announce about $1 billion in grants Thursday to airports across the country.
The bill already gave DFW Airport $63.2 million for other projects, but those are still being determined.
The FAA announced $1 billion in grants Thursday, which included $103.4 million going to Texas airports for projects in Houston, Austin, El Paso, Corpus Christi, Laredo and Arlington.
DFW Airport leaders have targeted a new utility plant as the key to reaching their goal of having “net zero” carbon emissions by 2030, meaning the airport will have a neutral carbon footprint within the decade, without buying carbon offsets. As part of those plans, the airport hopes to move away from natural gas power toward wind power created in other parts of the state.
“We’ve set aggressive goals to reach carbon net-zero by 2030,” said DFW Airport executive vice president of operations Chris McLaughlin. “We’ve made progress, but we think this new power plant is the single biggest item in the bucket.”
Airport leaders also hope to overhaul the other power plants on the property, replacing aging steam pipes with a high-efficiency hot water piping system.
The $35 million grant won’t cover the entire cost of the projects. The airport estimates it will cost about $158 million in all. DFW has requested $105 million from the federal government for the project. More money could be coming later as this is just the first of three rounds of annual allocations from the $1 trillion budget package. About $15 billion in total is supposed to go to airport projects.
DFW Airport is now in the design phase for the project and McLaughlin said it will hopefully get started and built as quickly as possible as construction costs continue to increase.
The power plant will be built between the roadways of Terminal C and the parking lot next to the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Arlington Municipal Airport is getting $540,000 to replace outdated HVAC systems with more energy-efficient models. Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport is getting $40 million for a terminal expansion project and Houston’s other airport, Hobby, is getting $3.6 million to make it more accessible to people with disabilities.
Austin Bergstrom International Airport is getting $15 million for terminal expansion plans, too.
