Vijayawada Airport Goes Green With 1 MW Solar Power

Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada airport has gone green. As per recommendations made by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), solar power plants with a production capacity of 1MW were set up at Tirupati and Vijayawada airports, and the plant at Vijayawada became operational on Thursday.

The airport authorities said that the solar power unit is part of the Vijayawada airport’s eco-friendly initiatives. According to reports, as part of the ‘Green Airports Initiative’ undertaken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, two airports in Andhra Pradesh were shortlisted for the prestigious initiative.

In 2018, AAI awarded the tender for setting up a 1 MW solar power plant to Novus Green Energy Systems Limited and works commenced from December 2018. The officials successfully completed the installation works and synchronized the plant to APSPDCL under net metering policy. The powerhouse will generate approximately 14 lakh units per annum.

“The project started a year ago and we formally launched it in the last week of June 2019. The project cost may seem huge but we will get it back in four years,” said airport director Madhusudan Rao.

Specifications:

• 1 MW– Plant Capacity
• 3,040—No. of Solar Panels
• 1400,000 kWh/Annum– Estimated generation
• 980 tonnes/annum– Reduction of CO2 emissions
• Rs 5.4 crores — Total cost of project

He said that solar plant will help reduce the burden of power bills. “We used to pay around Rs 30 lakh per month as power bill. This solar power unit can now help us save Rs 12 lakh per month which makes a huge difference. On an average, we can save up to Rs 1.5 crore per annum,” director Madhusudan Rao added.

The solar panels were erected on six acres of land adjacent to the main road towards the terminal building. According to the officials, Under the Green Airports Initiative, a solar power plant with a production capacity of 1 MW was installed at Vijayawada Airport. The airport has also adopted several power saving measures and switched from the regular lighting system to LEDs. Its daily consumption is around 12,000 to 13,000 units of power per day.

With the help of the plant, around 4,500 units of power are being generated thereby fulfilling 40 per cent of their consumption. In future, the airport plans to set up an additional 2 to 3 MW solar power plant with a dedicated substation for the airport.