India's Kochi Airport Now Has A New Floating Solar Plants

Cochin International Airport Ltd is the first airport in the world to fully relies on solar energy. It has just purchased one of the biggest floating solar power plants with a capacity of 452KWh.

By adding this solar power plant, the airport’s total installed capacity has reached 10MWp, producing about 1.6 lakh units of power per day. The airport’s daily power consumption is about 1.3 lakh units.

The floating solar plants were placed inside two artificial lakes in the 130-acre golf course. They use French technology mounting 1300 photovoltaic panels to generate power cost-effectively.

With this installation, the CIAL airport has achieved another milestone. The plants cover one acre and are connected to the KSEB power grid. Through the pre-commissioning trials, it has been shown that among eight solar plants in the airport, these panels costing about Rs 2 crores are producing power with an output efficiency reaching maximum.

VJ Kurian, CIAL’s founder managing director, attributed the plant’s success to the relentless efforts of the company in adopting new technologies.

Traditionally, the installation cost of the floating power plant is two to three times more expensive than that of the one mounted on the ground. However, with French technology, the first in the country, the cost is brought down to that of floor installation. The aim of CIAL is to become the state’s second-biggest power producer, just after KSEB.

In 2015, the airport created history by becoming the world’s first airport to operate using solar power. Kochi Airport has become a role model for other airports in the country as well as around the world to switch to green energy.