Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) on Monday commissioned a 2719-kW capacity solar plant at the Muttom Depot, a move which will help KMRL achieve 44 per cent energy neutrality.
The ground-mounted solar project is spread across four hectares of land located in the depot. With the commissioning of the new plant, the total capacity will be 5390 Kwp.
Inaugurating the plant, APM Mohammed Hanish, Managing Director, KMRL, said that the solar power is not just economically beneficial to the company but serves a powerful message to the society at large. With the advent of government policies, the company hopes that every household in the State will adopt solar power.
AMP Solar Ventures Pvt Ltd is the agency and the contract is for 25 years. The plant has a capacity of 10,332 units per day at ₹3.66 per KWH or unit. KMRL is expecting to save ₹107 lakh on energy cost every year.
KMRL has already achieved a 19 per cent neutrality with the help of a 2671 Kwp capacity solar plant. At present, 13 stations have solar panels. The daily energy requirement of KMRL is 48,000 units per day. Annually, 17.5 million units is used and the energy need will increase by 23 million units per annum when the Petta station is opened this year.
KMRL plans to enhance the capacity by another 5445 Kwp. The idea is to utilise the depot tracks to install solar power plants. The project is planned to be completed in 2020, and once completed, the metro’s energy neutrality will touch 60 per cent.