Kochi, Jan 17 (PTI) Cochin International Airport Ltd<br>(CIAL), which became the worlds first solar-powered airport<br>in 2015, on Sunday added another feather to its cap,<br>commissioning two floating solar power plants in Kerala.<br> With the installation of the plants with a capacity of<br>452 KWh over two artificial lakes, the airport's total<br>installed capacity has risen to 40 MWp helping it to produce<br>around 1.60 lakh units of power a day against per day<br>consumption of around at 1.30 lakh units, the CIAL said.<br> "CIALs trysts with the experiments in producing green<br>energy achieved another milestone with this installation as<br>the company has introduced cost-effective high-density<br>polyethylene floats; using French technology, upon which 1300<br>photovoltaic panels were mounted and laid over two artificial<br>lakes located in the 130-acre CIAL golf course", it said.<br> The plants covering a total area of one acre are<br>connected to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) power<br>grid, CIAL said in a release.<br> The pre-commissioning trials showed that these panels,<br>which cost around Rs 2 crore to the company, were producing<br>power with maximum output efficiency among the eight solar<br>power plants installed by CIAL at various locations in the<br>airport premises, the company said.<br> CIAL founder managing director V J Kurian attributed the<br>success of the plants to the companys relentless efforts in<br>bringing in new technologies and its working philosophy at par<br>with global standards.<br> "CIAL has been reinventing itself since its formative<br>days. One of our innovations which proved that relying upon<br>green energy is possible even for the high energy consumers<br>like an airport has won us the champions of the earth award<br>instituted by the United Nations. We are committed to the<br>protection of nature and trying our best to reduce the carbon<br>footprints," he said.<br> The company successfully executed the idea of Total<br>Sustainability Management (TSM) in its golf course where<br>treated water from the sewage treatment plant of the airport<br>is used for water harvesting with the help of 12 artificial<br>lakes.<br> The water from these lakes are used for irrigating the<br>lawns of the golf course and now, with the installation of the<br>floating power plants, it has leapt one more step forward in<br>TSM.<br> The technical assistance for the floating plants was<br>provided by French company CIEL TERRA.<br> French Ambassador to India Immanuel Lenain had visited<br>the floating plants last month and expressed his satisfaction.<br> CIAL said it aims to become the second largest power<br>producer in the state after KSEB, adding a 12 MWp plant was<br>being completed at Payyannur in Kannur district. PTI TGB<br>VS VS