Floating solar power plants for Cochin airport

19 Jan 2021 Editorial Team

The world’s first solar-powered airport, Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) commissioned two new floating solar power plants in Kerala.

With the installation of the 452 KWh capacity plants over two artificial lakes, the airport's total installed capacity has gone up to 40 MWp. This will help the airport produce around 1.60 lakh units of power per day against its previous per day consumption of around 1.30 lakh units, said the CIAL.

CIAL said in a release that the plants covering a total area of one acre are connected to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) power grid.

The pre-commissioning trials showed that these panels, which cost around Rs 2 crore to the company, were producing power with maximum output efficiency among the eight solar power plants installed by CIAL at various locations in the airport premises, the company said.

The company successfully executed the idea of Total Sustainability Management (TSM) in its golf course where treated water from the sewage treatment plant of the airport is used for water harvesting with the help of 12 artificial lakes.

The water from these lakes is used for irrigating the golf course lawns, and now, with the installation of the floating power plants, it has leapt one more step forward in TSM.

French company CIEL & TERRE which specialises in developing large scale floating photovoltaic (PV) plants, provided technical assistance for the floating plants.

CIAL said it aims to become the second-largest power producer in the state after KSEB, adding that a 12 MWp plant was being completed at Payyannur in Kannur district.

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