An Optimization Model for Airport Infrastructures in Support to Electric Aircraft

This paper investigates the airport infrastructural needs in support of hybrid-electric fleet operations. Attention is focused on the battery-charging related requirements. The recharging facility sizing problem concerns the identification of the number and type of charging points and their related electrical consumption in terms of energy and power, as well as the number of spare batteries needed to guarantee smooth operations, in case of battery swapping. The aim is to design an infrastructure that can satisfy the charging requests while minimizing the investment and operational costs of the recharging facility through an optimization approach. The developed algorithm includes the selection of the charging strategy that best suits the case under analysis, which is strongly affected by battery capacity and charging power. In addition to the sizing of the charging devices, the method allows finding the best battery charging schedule, and the minimum number of aircraft needed for the planned missions.