San Francisco International Airport Deploys Zero-Emission Mobile Battery Ground Power Units at Remote Aprons

Airfield electrical engineers at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) commissioned a fleet of twenty-eight zero-emission mobile battery Ground Power Units (eGPUs) on Friday afternoon across remote cargo and overnight hardstand aprons, eliminating the last major category of diesel-powered ground support equipment operating outside fixed terminal passenger boarding bridges. While aircraft parked at SFO's main terminal gates plug directly into gate-mounted 400-hertz solid-state power converters, planes positioned at remote stands or maintenance pads previously relied on towable Tier-4 diesel generator carts or burned jet fuel in their onboard Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) to run cabin avionics, galley refrigeration, and pre-flight lighting.

Each trailer-mounted eGPU houses a 600-kilowatt-hour lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack paired with a dual-output 90-kilovolt-ampere inverter that delivers clean, tightly regulated 115-volt, 400-hertz AC power and 28-volt DC starting current for up to six hours on a single charge. Between aircraft turnarounds, ramp crews plug the mobile units into solar-backed bi-directional charging bollards installed near Plot 40 and the West Field cargo complex.

Air-dispersion audits verified by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the California Air Resources Board indicate that retiring the twenty-eight legacy diesel GPU carts and curbing remote-stand APU jet-fuel burn will eliminate 1,150 metric tons of carbon dioxide and 6.4 tons of nitrogen oxides each year across San Mateo County shoreline communities. Ramp workers also benefit from an 18-decibel reduction in apron noise beside the aircraft nose gear.

The $5.4 million zero-emission ground power deployment was financed through a Federal Aviation Administration Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Airport Pilot Grant matched with SFO Airport Commission capital sustainability funds. Travelers and aviation researchers can review SFO's 2030 Net-Zero Carbon Action Plan and quarterly clean-air progress reports on the SFO Sustainability and Environmental Portal.