The world's first solar powered airport - in sunny Kerala

With a 12 MWp solar power plant, Cochin Airport will generate 50,000 to 60,000 thousand units of electricity every day, reports Tech in Asia

Warm and sunny India took its time to embrace solar power. Three times sunnier than Germany, it lagged behind while the colder European nation took the lead in solar power. But now, the tiger has emerged into the sunlight.
 

Image courtesy Tech in Asia

Cochin International airport in Kerala has become the world’s first fully solar-powered airport. It has a 12 MWp (megawatt peak) solar power plant, with 46,150 solar panels laid across 45 acres. This will generate 50,000 to 60,000 thousand units of electricity every day.
 

This airport is also the first in India to be built in a public–private partnership (PPP) model. It is owned by a public limited company called Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), floated by the government of Kerala in 1994. The state government holds a 33.36% stake in it, while non-resident Indians and individual investors own 38.03% stake. The rest is held by various companies.
 

Image courtesy Tech in Asia

It’s just been two years since the airport made the first move towards green energy by installing a 100 kWp (kilowatt peak) solar plant on the rooftop of its arrival terminal.
 

“Over the next 25 years, this green power project will avoid carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants by more than 300,000 metric tons, which is equivalent to planting three million trees,” according to an official statement from the airport authorities.
 

Solar power has a bright future in India. PM Narendra Modi has set ambitious targets of 100GW solar and 60GW wind power targets for India by 2022. Japanese telco SoftBank, Indian telco Bharti and Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn have formed a fund named SBG Cleantech that will back cleantech start-ups as well as bid for solar plant tenders ‎under the National Solar Mission programme and state-specific solar programs.

This has been sourced from Tech in Asia. You can access the article here.