Kochi, March 31. Kochi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRL), arguably the first metro in India to generate solar energy, commissioned a 1.5 Megawatt solar power plant at its depot at Muttom in Kochi today. With this, the KMRL is able to generate 51 percent of its power requirements through its own solar power plants at present.
According to an official communique of the KMRL, the company is now generating 9.9 MW of solar power, which will rise to 10.5 MW when the third stage of another solar power plant, now under construction, is commissioned. That will enable KMRL to generate 55 percent of the power it requires internally, said Lok Nath Behera, managing director of KMRL. The ultimate goal of the KMRL is to generate all the power it requires.
Currently, the KMRL is on the frontline of the public sector companies in Kerala that produce solar power. The vacant land at the Muttom yard is being utilised for solar power generation. The company is now also generating power through solar panels mounted on metro-rail tracks. The panels are fixed at a height of more than seven metres above tracks ,which to ensure hassle free movement of trains.
The company also plans to install solar panels by the side of feeder roads to generate 2.4 MW of power. Installing works of a solar plant of capacity 0.655 MW by the side of a feeder road is now progressing, said the communique. The total solar power generation of the KMRL is expected to become 147.49 lakh units next month. The first solar power plant of KMRL started generation in 2018. It had a capacity of 2.5 MW. The company says Kochi Metro has been able to reduce carbon emissions by 3.22 lakh tonnes by using solar power to fuel its trains.