Wednesday, Aug 26, 2015
Abu Dhabi: Following the implementation of a solar power plant in India’s Cochin International Airport, M.A. Yousuf Ali, the airport’s director who is also the managing director at the Abu Dhabi-based Lulu Group, said he was planning to pursue a similar project in the UAE.
“The knowledge and expertise that we have derived from commissioning such a project at Cochin airport gives me confidence to pursue similar projects in the UAE. Though there are no confirmed [UAE] projects on the way now, I will be pursuing similar projects in the coming days.
“I’m sure this will go well with the UAE government’s policy and plan of reducing usage of conventional energy, and boosting the production and usage of unconventional energy sources,” Yousuf Ali, a key shareholder in the project at Cochin, told Gulf News.
He added, “This has been always an ambitious project to have the first private sector airport in India fully running on solar power. We are delighted to be the first airport in the world to do so. I am very sure [the airport] will become a trendsetter and a benchmark for other similar projects, not just in India but in other parts of the world especially in the UAE and the GCC where there is abundant sunshine all throughout the year.”
On August 18, Kerala’s chief minister, Oommen Chandy, inaugurated the 12 megawatt solar power plant comprising 46,150 solar panels across 45 acres. Cochin Airport’s solar power plant is now producing more than 50,000 units of electricity per day to be consumed for all the airport’s operational functions.
The plant will produce 18 million units of power from the sun annually — enough to power 10,000 homes for a year. Over the next 25 years, this green power project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired plants by over 300,000 metric tonnes — equivalent to planting three million trees.
By Sarah Diaa?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2015. All rights reserved.
