Australia’s newest international airport to be powered by 100 pct renewable electricity

Australia’s newest airport, the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport will be powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity, thanks to a large rooftop solar system and a big battery.

The airport is Australia’s first in more than 50 years and is being built on the western outskirts of Sydney, and it aims to power its operations through renewables, and have an “almost” entirely electrified fleet of ground support vehicles.

The power supply is being delivered by Australian-owned energy company CleanPeak Energy, who will invest over $50 million in the development of a 9 MWp rooftop solar system – adding to the existing 4.5 MW array – and a 30 MW/120 MWh battery.

CleanPeak says it will deliver more than 18 GWh of on-site renewable electricity each year, enough to supply 100 per cent of WSI’s electricity requirements from day one.

As electricity demand from the airport grows, CleanPeak will continue to add new-build solar farms into its portfolio across New South Wales, sufficient to meet the over 100 GWh of demand per year expected at the airport.

The rooftop solar capacity is and will relocated on the cargo terminal rooftop as well as on the second cargo terminal rooftop.

The 30 MW/120 MWh BESS is expected to be operational some time next year and will be located adjacent to the site’s existing substation.

“The project demonstrates how critical infrastructure can transition to renewable energy without compromising reliability or performance,” said Philip Graham, CleanPeak Energy CEO.

“This project is about unlocking what’s possible when large-scale energy infrastructure is designed, financed and operated as an integrated energy system to power critical assets like airports without compromising performance.

“CleanPeak is enabling the airport to run on 100 per cent renewable electricity by investing at the site to optimise local energy infrastructure as well as developing additional solar farms to deliver the scale of energy required to ensure the airport runs 24/7 with renewable electricity.”

CleanPeak began supplying renewable electricity to the airport on May 1, 2026.

WSI also announced a partnership with Freightquip, a Melbourne based supplier, which will supply and operate an almost entirely electrified ground support equipment (GSE) fleet that covers the full scope of airport operations.

The GSE fleet includes belt loaders, cargo loaders, baggage tractors, and pushback equipment.

WSI CEO Simon Hickey said that 34 electric chargers have already been installed to support “sustainable ground operations” and that by “combining GSE pooling with a predominantly electric fleet, WSI is modernising ground operations, improving fleet utilisation, safety and ultimately reducing the environmental impact of our operations.”

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