CHENNAI: The Chennai international and domestic airport is set to become 90 per cent dependent on solar power from the beginning of next financial year, said R Balasundaram, an engineer at the Airport Authority of India, who is part of the team deploying the project.
The project estimated to cost nearly Rs 30 crore will generate nearly 32,000 units of electricity a day. The first phase of this project was implemented in August last.
A 1.5-MW system was installed at the Cargo airport at the budget of Rs 8.5 crore. “We’ve already saved at least Rs 2.16 crore from the project since the beginning of its trial run in April. We will save our principal investment in the first four years and everything after that is profit,” he said, adding that the system would not have a strong solar battery back-up system and would use solar power during day and use supply from TNEB in the night. The 1.5-MW solar plant generates over 7,500 units a day and reduces carbon emission by 3,600 tonnes every year.
Speaking at the World Environment Day celebrations by Confederation of Indian Industries on Sunday at Theosophical Society, he said, “We are working towards becoming less energy-dependent and employ more sustainable energy technology.”