The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has set itself an ambitious target of running Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) completely on solar power by 2020, reported Times of India.
Currently, power demand at KIA is 11MW per day and airport authorities estimate it to increase to about 20MW after completion of the second terminal. The airport now generates 3.44MW from solar energy daily and the proposed capacity enhancement project will add another 8.35 MW in two phases, taking the total to about 12MW. While the 12MW would be from on-site energy generation, BIAL plans to source another 8MW of solar energy from off-site.
S Lakshminarayanan, vice president (engineering & maintenance), BIAL said to TOI that at present solar energy is harnessed from both roof-top and ground-mounted panels. He further stated that BIAL’s aim is to make the airport 100% renewable-energy powered by 2020 and they also plan to increase their consumption through on-site and off-site solar power purchase agreements.
He said BIAL plans to install a solar power plant with a total capacity of 12MW, of which work has begun on installation of a 3.35MW capacity plant. The other plant with 5MW capacity is in the planning stage.
BIAL also plans to convert all lighting, except airfield ground lighting systems, to LED to reduce energy consumption. As of now, all streetlights and 50% of those at the terminal are LED. Energy saved from use of LED lights is equivalent to 1.7 million units per year.
