Kochi: Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), which became the worlds first solar-powered airport in 2015, on Sunday added another feather to its cap, commissioning two floating solar power plants in Kerala.

With the installation of the plants with a capacity of 452 KWh over two artificial lakes, the airport’s total installed capacity has risen to 40 MWp helping it to produce around 1.60 lakh units of power a day against per day consumption of around at 1.30 lakh units, the CIAL said.

“CIALs trysts with the experiments in producing green energy achieved another milestone with this installation as the company has introduced cost-effective high-density polyethylene floats; using French technology, upon which 1300 photovoltaic panels were mounted and laid over two artificial lakes located in the 130-acre CIAL golf course”, it said.

The plants covering a total area of one acre are connected to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) power grid, CIAL said in a release.

The pre-commissioning trials showed that these panels, which cost around Rs 2 crore to the company, were producing power with maximum output efficiency among the eight solar power plants installed by CIAL at various locations in the airport premises, the company said.

CIAL founder managing director V J Kurian attributed the success of the plants to the companys relentless efforts in bringing in new technologies and its working philosophy at par with global standards.

“CIAL has been reinventing itself since its formative days. One of our innovations which proved that relying upon green energy is possible even for the high energy consumers like an airport has won us the champions of the earth award instituted by the United Nations. We are committed to the protection of nature and trying our best to reduce the carbon footprints,” he said.

The company successfully executed the idea of Total Sustainability Management (TSM) in its golf course where treated water from the sewage treatment plant of the airport is used for water harvesting with the help of 12 artificial lakes.

The water from these lakes are used for irrigating the lawns of the golf course and now, with the installation of the floating power plants, it has leapt one more step forward in TSM.

The technical assistance for the floating plants was provided by French company CIEL TERRA.

French Ambassador to India Immanuel Lenain had visited the floating plants last month and expressed his satisfaction.

CIAL said it aims to become the second largest power producer in the state after KSEB, adding a 12 MWp plant was being completed at Payyannur in Kannur district.