1st Airport In World To Go 100% Solar Is In India
Cochin
International Airport Limited in Kochi, Kerala (India) has become the first
airport in the world to be powered entirely by solar power. A 12 MW solar PV
plant, spread over 50 acres, was inaugurated two days back near the
airport’s cargo complex.
The
power plant took 6 months to complete and has come up at a cost of ₹620
million ($9.5 million).
Technically
speaking, the airport is now grid neutral, as it will give back more than it
consumes from the grid. The newly installed solar power plant can generate
between 50,000 to 60,000 kWh per day.
The
airport has another 1 MW solar PV plant in addition to a smaller
grid-connected 100 kW rooftop system, both of which were installed in 2013.
The
electricity generated from the system will be fed into the power grid and the
airport will use equivalent power from the utility. The plant is expected
to produce much more than what the airport would consume, and for this purpose
a PPA has been signed with Kerala State Electricity Board to sell any
surplus power.
The 12
MW system was executed by Bosch’s Energy and Building Solutions team
in India. This is the largest project for the company to date.
About a year back, the Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi took the
solar plunge with a 2.14 MW plant.
Incidentally,
the combined capacity of solar installations at Cochin Airport (12+1.1 MW) is
more than the solar PV system installed at the Indianapolis International
Airport, which holds the record for world’s largest solar plant at an airport. However, to
be fair, Indianapolis has a single 12.5 MW ground-mounted system.
According
to the German company Enerparc, which had commissioned the Delhi system, the
only special requirement for putting up a solar plant at an airport is the
glare analysis for the solar panels. Solar glare is a
concern among
pilots, but technology advancements have led to a substantive reduction in the
reflective index of panels.
Kolkata’s
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, which seems to be the next in
line to install a MW-scale solar plant, is said to have sanctioned a 2 MW solar
PV unit. Though, if themedia
reports are to be
believed, the airport is eyeing a 15 MW ground-mounted solar power plant over
60 acres of land.
The
Airport Authority of India (AAI), which operates 125 airports across the country, including the
Cochin and Kolkata airports, has decided to build solar power plants at about
30 of its airports.
AAI has
plans to install 50 MW capacity plants in the first phase (by 2016), which
would be enhanced to 150 MW over a period of time. The plants would be
established on surplus land available at these identified airports or on the
large rooftops of the airport structures.
A MoU was signed between AAI and Solar
Energy Corporation Of India (SECI) for construction of these solar plants.
India
has 136 airports, some of which are spread over vast pieces of land. For
example, the Hyderabad International Airport is spread over 5,400 acres, while
the one at Chennai sits over 4,000 acres. Large-scale solar plants are possible
on many of these. The one at Hyderabad, for instance, can house a 25 MW
system.
No comments:
Post a Comment