India's Cochin Has World's First Fully Solar-Powered International Airport

India's Cochin International Airport is the world's first fully solar-powered airport, according to discovery.

A 45-acre, 12 MWp solar power plant was inaugurated at Cochin. There were dignitaries at the airport, even as the officials switched on more than 46,150 newly installed solar panels, in order to generate an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity everyday. Every year, the airport could produce up to 18 million units of electricity, which could power 10,000 homes.

It was in March 2013 that Cochin began to work with solar power. Authorities installed a 100 kWp solar power plant on the roof of its terminal building. It was followed by another 1 MWp installation on a maintenance hangar. Together, both plants have already cut carbon dioxide emissions by 550MT.

With this newest plant, the facility will now be completely "power neutral."

"Over the next 25 years, this green power project will avoid carbon dioxide emissions from coal fired power plants by more than 3 lakh metric tons, which is equivalent to planting 3 million trees," authorities said.

Any surplus power will getpushed back into the local grid. The airport's parent company, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), is planning to sell the surplus energy from the new solar plant to the Kerala State Electricity Board. It is also seeking to explore alternate energy resources, banking on the multiple water bodies in Kerala through dam-based solar panels and alternative hydro power projects, according to theverge.

Reportedly, Cochin is the seventh busiest airport in the country by passenger load, ferrying almost 7 million people in the past year.