KOCHI: The state-owned Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), popularly known as ‘Milma’, is on the path to becoming self-sufficient in energy needs. The federation took the first step towards achieving the goal by launching the initial work to install a 2MW solar plant in Tripunithura to power its units under the Ernakulam Union, mainly in Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Idukki.
“Once the solar plant — to be installed on the premises of the processing plant in Tripunithura — is commissioned, the power needed to fire the pasteurising units in the three districts under the Ernakulam Union will be met. As per our estimates, the solar plant will not only meet our requirements but also generate surplus power that will be fed into the KSEB grid,” said Milma chairman K S Mani. He said once the power plant is commissioned, which will happen very soon, Milma will become the only dairy federation in the country to have its own power-generating source.
“Funded by the National Dairy Development Board, the project is executed by the Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology (ANERT),” Mani said. According to him, more than 3,000 panels will be installed on the premises of the Tripunithura plant. “Every inch of space will be used for it,” he added.
“At dairy plants, power consumption happens the most at the milk pasteurising units. So, once, the solar plants start working, we will be able to save a huge amount of revenue on electricity bills. This money can be then used for other projects,” he said.
Milma is looking at various other means to save energy or achieve self-sufficiency. “We have entrusted the Energy Management Centre, Kerala (EMC-K), to study the possibilities of using solar panels as a source of heat energy for the pasteurising units in the plants under Thiruvananthapuram and Malappuram unions,” he said.
“There is a technology that allows the heat energy generated in the solar panels to be directly used in the heating units instead of being converted into electricity and then used. Once implemented, it will ease the dependence on electricity and stop the drain on revenue,” said Mani.
The federation is also eyeing to tap hydel and wind power to meet the power needs“With green energy being the future, we need to look into the possibilities of harnessing them wherever we can. “The federation has entrusted the EMC to do a feasibility study on using the power generated through these alternative sources of energy at the units in Wayanad and Idukki. Once we get the report, the federation will think about implementing it,” said Mani.
BUST OF VARGHESE KURIEN UNVEILED
Varghese Kurien, the father of White Revolution in India, was honoured on the occasion of the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Tripunithura solar power plant, at the Milma headquarters at Edappally on Tuesday. A bust of Kurien was unveiled at the headquarters. There have have allegations that Milma had not given due recognition to Kurien, a Keralite. Milma chairman K S Mani, however, refuted the charges. “We have never been uncourteous or ignored his contributions to the development of the dairy industry in the country”, he said.