Cochin International Airport is the world’s first Solar Powered Airport

Cochin International Airport is an Indian airport in the southwestern coastal state of Kerala. The airport handles up to 1000 international and domestics flight in a single week. This airport is the 7th largest and busiest airport in all of India. The airport is capable of commuting more than 10 million passengers every year. The airport hosts almost 27 airlines and has almost 3 dozen shops and restaurants. However, the most special and unique thing about this airport is that it entirely runs on Solar energy. It’s not the only airport in the world that uses solar energy for power, but it’s the first one ever.

Cochin International Airport became the world’s first solar-powered airport in 2015 upon the establishment of its solar plant. The government of India at the time converted a whole lot of land into a 12-megawatt solar plant. The airport had reserved the chunk of land for cargo storing purposes. However, the authorities noticed that the land is not used at all. So, they took the decision to convert the whole area into a solar plant that now powers the whole airport. The Solar Plant has so much capacity that it, not only powers the airport but also supports and provides extra electricity to the state grid station. This way, electricity is not wasted and hence used in an efficient manner. 

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Cochin International Airport has always been the center of attention for the world’s media. This is because of its use of renewable energy. According to officials, the airport consumes at least 48,000 units of electricity every day. However, the capacity of the Solar Plant is much more than just 48,000 units.

The project of converting the airport to solar energy started back in 2013 with only 400 solar panels. When the mini solar plant worked efficiently for the airport, authorities decided to escalate the project to a larger level. They did this by allotting 45 acres of land for the project and installing a total of 46,000 solar panels.