Kochi airport first in the world to be solar-powered

The airport commissions 12-Mw solar power plant, which has been installed by Bosch

Kochi airport has become the first in the world to rely solely on solar power for its electricity needs. The airport on Tuesday commissioned a 12-Mw solar power plant, which was installed by Bosch.

Electricity generated from the solar plant was used to power airport facilities during the day and additional power was fed into the state grid. At night, the airport would draw power from the grid.

The solar plant at the Kochi airport was built on 50 acres, making it the single largest solar project in an airport in the country.

The plant is estimated to generate approximately 50,000 units of electricity a day. Through this project, coupled with an earlier installed capacity of 1.1 Mw, the Kochi airport would technically become "grid-power neutral", Bosch said on Tuesday.

Other airports in the country, too, have developed solar plants or are planning to, in order to reduce carbon footprint. The Delhi airport has a 2.1-Mw solar plant and the Mumbai airport has a 650-kW rooftop solar plant.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had issued instructions to airports to take energy efficiency measures. The Kochi airport has about 170 flight movements daily. In FY2015, it handled about 6.5 million passengers (58 per cent international).