Scripting a new chapter in Renewable energy, the southern Indian city of Kochi in Kerala is now the proud home of the world’s first fully solar-powered airport as Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurated the 12 MWp (megawatt peak) solar power plant near the cargo complex at the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL).
About the Project:
- With 46,150 solar panels Spread across 45 acres of land, equivalent to 25 football fields – the project was built by German engineering company Bosch for Rs62 crore ($9.5 million).
- The airport already had a 1MW solar power plant, which can produce 4,000 units of electricity daily. With its new solar plant, the airport can now produce 60,000 units of electricity every day, which is more than enough to meet its daily requirement.
- Since the airport expects to produce more than what it is likely to consume, CIAL is planning to feed some of the power into the state grid.
- It is equipped with a SCADA system, through which remote monitoring is carried out.
About the Airport:
- Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) is India’s fourth largest international airport in terms of passenger traffic.
- This airport is also the first in India to be built in a public–private partnership (PPP) model.
- CIAL had ventured into the Solar PV sector during March 2013, by installing a 100 kWp solar PV Plant on the roof top of the Arrival Terminal Block. So this is the second similar initiative for the airport.
Meanwhile, close on the heels of Kochi, another Indian airport Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, said that it plans to set up a 15 MW solar power plant on 60 acres of land. India is currently in the midst of ramping up its solar power generation as the Narendra Modi led government has plans to increase the country’s solar power capacity from the existing 4GW (gigawatt) to 100GW (gigawatt) by 2022.