Travellers flying in or out of the Cochin International Airport Limited will now see a field of about 7,000 photovoltaic solar panels in an area of 45 acres.
The airport company, which recently ventured into the hydel power projects, is set to become power neutral from August this year with the commissioning of a 12 megawatt solar power plant. The project, implemented at a cost of Rs. 55 crore, is expected to generate around 48,000 units of electricity per day, which along with the existing 1.10 MW solar plant, will be sufficient to meet its average daily power requirement of 50,000 units.
The system is expected to bring down the overall operational costs and save on power,” explained V.J. Kurian, Managing Director, CIAL, also adding that it would help take CIAL closer to the concept of green airport.
Implemented in association with Bosch Ltd, the plant comprises PV modules of 265Wp (watt peak) capacity, and inverters of 1MW capacity.
Presently, CIAL’s average monthly power bills come up to Rs.1.2 crore.
Officials said the airport was planning to set up a large monitor in its upcoming terminal to display actual figures of energy generated and carbon dioxide released.CIAL ventured into the solar energy sector in March 2013 by installing a 100 kilo watt solar plant on the roof top of the Arrival Terminal Block.
Later, it expanded the capacity of power generation by installing a1 megawatt plant, partly on the roof top and partly on the ground in the Aircraft Maintenance Hangar facility within its premises.
As per estimates, the plant has so far helped CIAL save more than 550 metric tonnes of carbon (CO2) emissions.
Apart from this, CIAL Infrastructure Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of the airport company is on the process of setting up about eight small hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of 44 megawatt.
Once this project is commissioned, it plans to sell the surplus energy to Kerala State Electricity Board.
