First completely solar powered airport in the world

Commercial Electricians Curiosities

Cochin International is the fourth busiest airport in India and the first in the world that runs solely on solar power. It became totally energy self-sufficient in August last year.

In today’s blog, we would like to give you some more details about this great project and how it is holding up.

According to BBC News, the 1.300-acre airport collects energy from a field with over 45,000 solar panels for daily operation. The field produces enough energy to provide electricity for 10,000 homes for one year. The project took six months and cost $9.5 million, but many other airports all over the world expressed interest in copying the model.

So it all seems amazing, but how about the new challenge? 

Cochin International Airport wants to open a new terminal that exceeds the current plant capacity.

It may seem like this infrastructure is getting way too big for its britches, taking millions of dollars and trying to keep pace with strict timetables. However, the Indian Prime Minister is just about to boost his country’s solar capacity to 100,000 megawatts in the coming up years.

Using alternative energy options in transportation is becoming more common. Nowadays, big airlines are toying with biofuels to run their jets.

With Cochin International Airport, we can see a great example of how serious the governments become about getting greener. Apparently, enormous power bills are the most important reason of these ideas.

It’s encouraging to see emerging markets like India invest in solar energy, though, despite the clear problems of expanding an expensive, energy-efficient infrastructure in a short period of time. We’ll have to wait and see what happens – not just in India, but in other countries all over the world.

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