The Cochin International Airport Limited(CIAL) at Nedumbassery, which is country’s first fully solar power-run airport, has become a game changer with no less than nine similar airport projects scheduled for completion before March 2017.
According to a report tabled in Parliament, as many as 19 Airport Authority of India (AAI)-run airports have been generating 18.7 MW of green energy after installing solar rooftop projects with capacity ranging from 100 KWp- 3,000 KWp. And solar rooftop projects are being installed in seven AAI-run airports, besides upgrading the capacity of solar power projects at Kolkata and Jaipur Airports, which is expected to be completed before the end of this fiscal.
However, attaining the ‘power neutral’ airport tag will be a tall task for these airports except Kolkata Airport, which will have 15 MW solar power plant after completion of the ongoing project. The report says, among the airports, Chandigarh, Chennai, and Kolkata Airport have generated three, 1.6 and two MW power, respectively, while the rest are generating power below one MW. CIAL, it says, has been generating 15.4 MW.
CIAL authorities said it was CIAL which first put up a 100 kW solar powered system in the country, followed by 2.14 MW solar power plant at Indira Gandhi International Airport(IGI) Limited, New Delhi, in 2013. CIAL then gradually upgraded its capacity to one MW and to 15.4 MW. CIAL authorities are now in the process of doubling its solar power generation within a year by upgrading installation capacity of the existing solar power plant from the current 15.4 MW to 28.8 MW, they said.
It was after the successful execution of the solar power project that the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) announced that at least one MW solar power would be produced from each airport in the country. CIAL also generated around 2.24 crore unit power from its solar power plant till November 30, according to CIAL authorities.
The Cochin International Airport Limited, which requires about 5,000 units for its normal daily operations, is expected to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants by more than three lakh metric tonne in the next 25 years by switching to green energy, which, according to them, is equivalent to planting 30 lakh trees or not driving 750 million miles.
By Baishakhi Dutta
