CIAL receives international recognition for sustainable energy project in Kannur

Kochi | The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) on Tuesday said it has received international recognition, for its sustainable energy project at Kannur, in the Green Airports Recognition 2025 awards instituted by Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific and Middle East.

CIAL said the recognition honoured its terrain-based Solar Power Plant at Payyannur in Kannur district.

"Awarded in the 6–15 million passengers per annum category, this recognition places CIAL among the leading environmentally conscious airports across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.

The ACI program celebrates exemplary environmental initiatives that contribute to greener, more sustainable aviation infrastructure," it said in a release.

CIAL Managing Director S Suhas received the award from ACI President S G K Kishore at a ceremony hosted by ACI in New Delhi, the release said.

Suhas is quoted as having said that CIAL, which is the world's first airport fully powered by solar energy, "continues to expand its green initiatives through periodic upgrades in energy capacity as part of its infrastructure development".

"Committed to sustainable development, the company has been enhancing green energy to meet the energy needs owing to the continuous infrastructure development. At present, the total installed capacity of CIAL is 50 MW," he said.

Commissioned in 2022 on a 35-acre land, CIAL introduced a concept of terrain-based installation where the geographical characteristics of the area are retained, and no changes have been made in the gradient of the land, the release said.

"Terrain based installation increases the land utilisation compared to flat land by decreasing the space between the solar module arrays. The land area required for solar photovoltaic (PV) installation is reduced to approximately 2.75 Acres /MW as compared to 3.75 Acres / MW in flat land," it said.

CIAL further said that the aim was to build a plant by retaining the gradient of the land so that it could accommodate 35 per cent extra solar panels which in turn will generate more energy.

ACI International, in their official recognition letter, opined that CIAL's submission was among the outstanding projects that stood out from the numerous high-quality entries it received in 2024, the release said.