CIAL commissions floating solar power plants

Cochin International Airport Ltd(CIAL), which became the worlds first solar-powered airportin 2015, on Sunday added another feather to its cap, commissioning two floating solar power plants in Kerala.

With the installation of the plants with a capacity of452 KWh over two artificial lakes, the airport’s total installed capacity has risen to 40 MWp helping it to produce around 1.60 lakh units of power a day against per day consumption of around at 1.30 lakh units, the CIAL said.

”CIALs trysts with the experiments in producing green energy achieved another milestone with this installation asthe company has introduced cost-effective high-density polyethylene floats; using French technology, upon which 1300photovoltaic panels were mounted and laid over two artificial lakes located in the 130-acre CIAL golf course”, it said.

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

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.

CIAL founder managing director V J Kurian attributed the success of the plants to the companys relentless efforts in bringing in new technologies and its working philosophy at par with global standards.