Doubles its solar power generation
KOCHI: The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) though still struggles to generate meaningful revenue to support its expenses, has achieved yet another milestone on its green route.
The rail authority inaugurated ground-mounted solar power plants at its Muttom yard on Monday (April 1), in what is a leap towards doubling the existing solar power production capacity. The plant comes with a capacity of 2719 kW, which can help KMRL save Rs1.2 crore every year on energy, according to a statement.
A media report quoted KMRL MD APM Mohammed Hanish as saying that the solar power not only helps the company save on cost, but it also sends a powerful message to the society at large. “With the new government policies, the company hopes that every household in the State will adopt solar power in the near future itself,” he added.
AMP Solar Ventures Pvt Ltd is the agency that took on the ambitious project that extends to 25 years. The plant has a capacity of 10,332 units per day at Rs3.66 per KWH or unit. KMRL aims to save Rs107 lakh on energy cost every year.
The report also said that KMRL has already achieved 19 per cent neutrality with the help of a 2671 Kwp capacity solar plant. At present, 13 stations have solar panels and the daily energy requirement of KMRL is 48,000 units per day.
While the current annual power consumption is 17.5 million units, it is expected to increase to 23 million units per annum once all stations up to Petta are made operational, which hopefully will take place during this year itself.
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