Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) has crossed another milestone in its trysts with green energy initiatives by achieving a cumulative production volume of 25 crore units, offsetting 1,60,000 metric tonnes of carbon emission.

S Suhas, Managing Director, said, “CIAL’s development policy encompasses Total Sustainability Management (TSM). We try to explore every possible way to address climate change. CIAL, which became power neutral in 2015, is now a power surplus organisation, feeding approximately 4 crore units of excess power annually to the State grid. And with the help of the Government, we are sure that we can venture into more such projects in the near future“.

CIAL started its solar initiatives in 2013 with a 100 kWp pilot plant. It expanded its solar capacity in phases and attained the status of ‘World’s first airport to be fully powered by solar energy’ by 2015, with an installed capacity of 13.1 MWp. The airport company now has a total installed solar capacity of 50 MWp. With its 4.5 MW hydroelectric power project at Arippara, CIAL is now the second-largest power producer in Kerala after KSEB.

CIAL has generated more than 25 crores units of green power from various solar PV installations at the airport till date, reducing the carbon footprint by 1,60,000 metric tonnes. The 12 MWp solar plant at Payyannur, inaugurated in March 2022, has generated approximately one crore units of green power till date. Arippara Small Hydro Electric Project, commissioned in November, has also generated approximately 75 lakh units till date. Agro-photovoltaic activities utilising the vacant spaces between the solar panels in the CIAL solar plant have, so far, produced approximately 90 metric tonnes of pesticide-free vegetables.

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