Cochin Airport Commissions Floating Solar Power Plant
Cochin International Airport Ltd. (CIAL), the first airport in the World to be solar powered (in the year 2015) has yet again established a new milestone towards sustainable development. Cochin Airport has successfully commissioned a Floating Solar Power Plant of 452 KWh capacity on two artificial lakes.
With installation of this new plant, Cochin Airport’s total installed solar generated power capacity has risen to 40 MWp (Megawatt peak) helping it to produce around 1.60 lakh units of power a day. The total power consumption per day of the airport is around 1.30 lakh units.
Cochin Airport Using French Floating Solar Panel Technology
Cochin International Airport Ltd. took technical assistance for the floating plants from French solar plant installation company CIEL TERRA. For this installation high-density polyethylene floats were used upon which 1300 photovoltaic panels were mounted and laid over two artificial lakes located in the 130-acre CIAL golf course.
French Ambassador to India Mr. Immanuel Lenain had visited the floating plants last month and expressed his satisfaction.
CIAL Founder and Managing Director Mr. V J Kurian said “CIAL has been reinventing itself since its formative days. One of our innovations which proved that relying upon green energy is possible even for the high energy consumers like an airport has won us the champions of the earth award instituted by the United Nations. We are committed to the protection of nature and trying our best to reduce the carbon footprints“.
Know more about Floating Solar Power Plants in India.
Total Sustainability Management for Airport Operations
Cochin Airport is working on the model of Total Sustainability Management (TSM). As the name suggests in this model an organization or premise tries to be as much self-reliant for its energy needs as it could be and in turn minimize its carbon footprint.
To achieve this, Cochin Airport in its golf course has 12 artificial lakes where treated water from the sewage treatment plant of the airport is used for water harvesting. The water from these lakes is used for irrigating the lawns of the golf course and now, with the installation of the floating power plants, it has taken another step forward in TSM.