Kochi Metro Rail to Increase its Solar Power Use to 6.3 MWp

KMRL has always taken the effort to make Kochi Metro the most environment-friendly green metro in the country.

In a significant development, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) is all set to increase its solar power use to 6.3 MWp (megawatt peak).

This was followed by an agreement signed with AMP Solar India Private Ltd. The power purchase agreement (PPA) for 2.3MWp solar power will be through a ground-mounted solar plant on the land available at the Muttom depot.

At present, KMRL has solar panels on the rooftop of 16 stations and buildings in the Metro yard. The installation capacity of the rooftop project is 4 MWp.

The contract was signed between Thiruman Archunan, director projects, KMRL, and Shriprakash Rai, director, distributed generation, AMP Solar, in the presence of A P M Mohammed Hanish, MD, KMRL.

According to KMRL officials this would raise the total solar power generated by KMRL to 6.3 MWp.

"KMRL has always taken the effort to make Kochi Metro the most environment-friendly green metro in the country, and we are committed to take up all possible measures to strive towards this goal. Today, we are very happy to add 2.3 MWp by erecting solar panels at our Muttom yard. We are on the lookout for opportunities to generate more solar power and become more energy efficient," said Hanish.

The project will be commissioned in nine months' time. The power generated by the plant will be connected to the power distribution system of KMRL, which will utilize the energy generated by the plant.

Source: TOI