NREL Publishes FAA-Sponsored Report on “Vertiport Electrical Infrastructure Requirements”
A vital and growing need for developing, constructing and deploying vertiports and accessories to service eVTOLs has led the FAA to sponsor a NREL Report. This U.S‑based group specialises in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration and sustainable transportation. The acronym stands for ‘National Renewable Energy Laboratory’.
One particular area of interest is the electrical charging needs of eVTOL aircraft and the requirements for electrical infrastructure. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has begun the process of identifying the impact of these alternative energy sources on operations, while preparing guidance for communities and city planners to address the challenges that such aircraft and their supporting infrastructure may bring.
Electrical charging loads will become a vital part of future constructed vertiports. The key research challenge is the optimisation of megawatt-scale building and charging loads, energy storage and renewables production.

The NREL report states, “Data collection efforts were carried out to attain a holistic understanding of the energy system requirements within and around the vertiport footprint. Six original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were contacted to obtain key data including aircraft performance, general aircraft information, and cybersecurity.”
It continues, “Based on charging demand determined for each site, the research team at NREL performed three key analyses: grid impact, on-site generation techno-economic analysis, and GHG emissions impact analysis due to eVTOL charging load. Each analysis considered three scenarios: business as usual (BAU) (without eVTOL charging), BAU including charging demand, and BAU including charging demand and on-site renewable generation.
“Jobs and economic development, as well as a hazards analysis, were also examined. Grid impact analysis provided insights into the feeder operating conditions under given scenarios of electric vehicle support equipment (EVSE) infrastructure and DER adoption and evaluated upgrade costs.”

NREL Research Facility at Golden, Colorado
This FREE and Lengthy Report can be downloaded at:-
https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy24osti/86245.pdf
For more information
(Top image: Credit — NREL)