Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), the world's first airport to run fully on solar energy, has produced 25 crore units of electricity, helping eliminate 1.6 lakh tonnes of carbon footprint. The solar energy production is in addition to CIAL's hydroelectric project in Arippara in Kozhikode where a run-of-the-river project has been set up to produce about 14 million units of power annually.
CIAL set up a 100 kW solar farm on an experimental basis in 2013 as its first step towards turning into a fully solar powered airport. The airport was able to achieve the status of a fully solar-powered institution in 2015 with a production of 13.1 MW. The airport has around eight solar plants at present, which is meeting its requirement. In addition, the airport has also commissioned a 12 MW plant in Payyannur in Kannur district. The total renewable energy production capacity under the airport authority has now gone up to 50 MW, said a communication here.
CIAL has become the second largest power producer in the State after Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEB), and the Payyannur facility has contributed about one crore units of electricity. The Arippara power facility, inaugurated in November 2021, has produced 75 lakh units of power in 2022.
The plants established by CIAL has been able to produce around two lakh units of power daily against the 1.6 lakh units of utilisation by the airport facilities. The unit has been able to feed around four crore units of power to the State power grid, the communication said.
The airport authority is also in the midst of planting vegetables in the solar fields under the agri-photovoltaic method. Vegetable production has now reached about 90 tonnes at the solar farm near the cargo terminal, the communication added.
