Cochin International Airport Ltd. or CIAL in the southern state of Kerala in India is all set to become the world's first airport fully powered by solar energy. When fully functional, the solar panels installed at the airport will produce up to 60,000 units per day, which will be sufficient for its operations.
In the grid connected system, with no storage in batteries, 46,150 solar photo voltaic panels are spread across 45 acres of land, as well as on its rooftop. On Tuesday, it has installed a 12 Mega Watt peak solar PV plant. The airport has a power requirement of 52,000 units a day.
In a strive to become the first green airport, CIAL has been keen to switch over to solar power since 2013, and since then it has saved emission of more than 550 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide. For the next quarter of the century, it will be saving at least three lakh metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from the coal fired energy sources, equivalent to 30,00,000 trees.
The airport has recorded a 21 percent increase in passenger volume in 2014-15, with 6.10 million passengers for its domestic and international terminals. The 16- year old airport will be commissioning its new international terminal in May next year. CIAL is India's first public private partnership airport.
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