Critical Infrastructure Battery Storage | Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport ARFF East
How DFW International Airport ensured uninterrupted power for its Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting facility with a 560 kWh Fortress Power eSpire commercial battery storage system.
Location: Dallas, Texas
Clients: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) — ARFF East Facility
System Size: 560 kWh
System Components: 2x Fortress Power eSpire 280 | 125 kW Inverter | Keystone EMS
Installation Partners: 512 Solar | JE Dunn Construction | PGAL
Application: Backup power bridging during scheduled utility interruptions, generator integration
The Need
Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting stations are among the most operationally critical facilities on any airport campus. ARFF teams are responsible for emergency response, hazard mitigation, rescue, and medical treatment for any incident involving aircraft on the ground. Their response time is measured in seconds, and their readiness depends entirely on having fully operational equipment, communications, and facility systems at all times.
At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, the ARFF East facility cannot afford gaps in power. Scheduled utility interruptions, whether for infrastructure maintenance, upgrades, or grid work, present a real operational challenge for facilities like this one. A traditional approach would rely solely on generator backup, but generators carry their own limitations: startup lag, fuel dependency, and the mechanical risk that comes with any single point of failure in a life-safety environment.
DFW needed a smarter solution. One that could bridge the gap between utility power going offline and generator power coming fully online, while providing centralized monitoring and management of the entire backup energy system. For a facility where preparedness is not optional, the energy infrastructure needed to match the standard of the people it supports.
The Solution
The project brought together three experienced partners to design and deliver the system: 512 Solar, JE Dunn Construction, and architecture and engineering firm PGAL. At the core of the solution is a Fortress Power commercial battery energy storage system built around two eSpire 280 units, combining for 560 kWh of stored energy capacity and a 125 kW inverter.
The system is designed specifically to integrate with the facility’s existing generator infrastructure. Rather than replacing the generator, the eSpire platform works alongside it, providing stored energy during the critical window of scheduled utility interruptions. When utility power is taken offline, the battery system steps in immediately to maintain power to the facility. The generator serves as the longer-duration backup behind it, with the battery handling the seamless transition so there is no disruption to operations.
Managing the entire system is the Fortress Power Keystone EMS, the intelligent energy management layer that ties battery operation, monitoring, and control into a single centralized platform. Keystone gives facility operators full visibility into system status, battery state of charge, and operational performance, ensuring the ARFF East facility always knows exactly where its backup power stands.
The combination of eSpire battery storage, generator integration, and Keystone EMS creates a layered, resilient energy backup architecture built specifically for the demands of critical public safety infrastructure.
Results
The ARFF East installation at DFW gives the facility a reliable, actively managed bridge between utility power and generator backup, removing the vulnerability that previously existed during scheduled utility interruptions. Power to the facility is maintained continuously, with no gap in availability and no reliance on a single backup source.
The Keystone EMS provides the operational visibility that a facility of this nature requires. Rather than a passive backup system that simply activates when needed, the Fortress Power platform delivers ongoing monitoring and control, giving facility managers real-time data on battery performance and readiness at all times.
For DFW’s Department of Public Safety, the result is an energy infrastructure that matches the standard of the mission it supports: always ready, always on, with no room for gaps.
Power Infrastructure Built for Public Safety
The DFW ARFF East project demonstrates how commercial battery energy storage is becoming a critical component of public safety infrastructure planning. For airports, emergency response facilities, and other life-safety environments, the question is no longer whether backup power is necessary. It is whether that backup power is fast enough, reliable enough, and intelligent enough to support the people and systems that depend on it.
The Fortress Power eSpire platform, paired with the Keystone EMS, delivers exactly that: a commercially proven battery storage system engineered for the reliability standards that critical infrastructure demands.
Ready to explore what a commercial solar + storage system could do for your facility? Start a C&I Project Quote.