Microgrid Shields Pittsburgh International from Power Outages

A major substation fire that caused a total power outage at London Heathrow Airport resulted in the cancellation of more than 1,300 flights and impacted hundreds of thousands of travelers worldwide. The incident emphasizes the importance of the microgrid at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) in preventing similar power disruptions.

The London fire, which began overnight Thursday, forced dozens of Heathrow-bound flights to divert to alternate airports throughout Europe. Other flights, including several from North America, had to return to their points of origin.

Aircraft getting the news that Heathrow is closed. pic.twitter.com/ky9BrxGPL6

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 21, 2025

Crews worked diligently throughout Friday to restore power at Heathrow, the world’s fifth-busiest airport that averages a quarter of a million passengers daily. By Friday evening, power was restored, and the airport gradually began resuming flights.

By Sunday, most operations at Heathrow had returned to normal. However, the airline industry expects the repercussions of Heathrow’s closure to last for days as airlines accommodate stranded passengers and reposition planes and crews.

The British government has launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.

The outage at Heathrow marks Europe’s largest aviation disruption since 2010 when volcanic ash from Iceland canceled more than 100,000 flights and affected over 7 million travelers over a six-day period.

Keeping the lights on

In addition to the Heathrow incident, a downed power line caused a nearly two-hour power outage on March 3 at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, delaying more than 150 flights and diverting many incoming aircraft.

The outages at Heathrow, Baltimore and Atlanta (in December 2017), underscore why PIT decided to build its own microgrid, becoming the world’s first fully independently powered airport.

Fully operational since July 2021, PIT’s microgrid is powered by on-site natural gas wells drilled by CNX Resources Corp. under an agreement with the Allegheny County Airport Authority and nearly 10,000 solar panels. The microgrid ensures that PIT remains resilient against power outages on the traditional grid.

“Airports are part of global and national critical infrastructure, and these types of power disruptions are one of the reasons why we built our microgrid – to increase our resiliency against high-profile outages that can compromise safety and disrupt the industry,” said PIT CEO Christina Cassotis.

Four years in, the microgrid has enhanced PIT’s resiliency and saved the airport over $1 million annually in utility costs. Developed in partnership with People’s Natural Gas (now owned by Cordia), IMG Energy Solutions and CNX, the microgrid was constructed and funded entirely by private sources at no additional cost to PIT.

While maintaining its connection to the grid for emergency or backup power, the microgrid is capable of operating in “island mode” disconnected from the traditional power grid.

This crucial feature proved invaluable on March 4 when two separate substation fires occurred off airport property, forcing PIT to disconnect from the grid. During that time, the microgrid provided uninterrupted power to the entire PIT campus.

Without the microgrid, PIT’s power supply would have been disrupted during that period.

“We would have [otherwise] lost substantial amounts of energy required to run this airport,” Cassotis said at the ACAA monthly board meeting on March 21. “But we didn’t, and I think that’s a testament to how we’re doing things that can benefit the industry.”

Since becoming fully operational four years ago, the microgrid has attracted interest throughout the aviation industry, with PIT hosting visits from several airports and airlines looking to replicate its model including visits from Houston Airport System and Southwest Airlines. In 2024, the microgrid received the Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award from The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics for its contribution towards exemplary innovation that could be replicated elsewhere.

Some airports have announced plans for similar microgrids. New York John F. Kennedy International Airport is developing a 12-megawatt microgrid, powered by solar panels and natural gas fuel cells, as part of its new Terminal One project. Atlanta, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and San Diego also have begun evaluating the feasibility of building microgrids using various power sources.

PIT’s microgrid can produce up to 23 megawatts from its five natural gas-fired generators and solar panels. The solar array is built atop a closed landfill, repurposing land that is otherwise unsuitable for development and underscoring the airport’s sustainability goals.