AAI Green Initiatives: Airports in India Getting Upgraded With Solar Power Plants

A few months back, in our routine self-awareness activity, we gained a lot of insights when we explored sustainable energy sources in different countries, their climate and other challenges. Although it has nothing to do with aviation, the current story of AAI Green Initiatives is related to green and clean energy sources. Thanks to its Geography and Climate, India has that advantage in generating and utilising Solar Power. We are already aware of how Aviation Industry across the globe is trying to make Air Travel sustainable by deploying various measures, offering Green Fares, formulating new frameworks and investing in clean alternatives. It won’t be an accomplishment when Airlines alone take the initiative, as the ground connecting points – Airports – are also a part of the eco-system. Hence, the AAI’s Green Initiatives.

Accreditation Program of Airports Council International:

At this juncture, it is also worth knowing that Airports across the globe continuously look for the usage of renewable/green energy. As per the Accreditation program of the Airports Council International (ACI), various International Airports have achieved Carbon Neutrality by using a series of measures, which also include the use of green/renewable energy.

AAI’s Green Initiatives:

Now that the context is set, let’s delve into the story. Airports Authority of India is on its path to upgrading all its Airports with Solar Power Plants. With this, AAI is promoting the Clean India, Green India campaign by increasing the use of renewable energy at its various Airports across the country. While AAI’s measures have ensured various airports are equipped with clean energy sources, work is in progress at some airports.

Measures Taken by the Airport Operators in India:

For encouraging green energy at the airports, the airport operators including the Airports Authority of India (AAI), have installed solar power plants under net metering / captive mode at various locations/Airports for the generation and self-consumption of green and renewable energy. In addition, few airports are procuring green energy through open access. Further, airport operators with scheduled operations are advised to map the carbon emissions at their respective airports. MoCA has advised all the operational airports with scheduled operations and developers of the upcoming Greenfield Airports to work towards achieving Carbon Neutrality & Net Zero, which inter-alia includes use of green energy.

100% Green Airports:

As of July 2022, Delhi, Mumbai and Cochin airports’ share of green energy in total energy consumption is 100%. Cochin Airport is the first green airport in the world, fully powered by solar energy.

Few Recent Progress Updates as shared by AAI:

Agartala Airport: The airport is equipped with a rooftop solar power plant of 0.25 MW capacity and is generating clean energy for the airport. The airport will soon be equipped with another 2MW solar plant that will cater to all energy requirements. Vadodara Airport: The airport is recently equipped with a ground-mounted solar power plant with a cumulative capacity of 675 kWp. The power plant is currently catering to around 30% of the total load of the airport. Silchar Airport: The Airport is equipped with a 100kWp rooftop solar power plant, divided into a 67 kWp plant installed at AAI’s residential complex & a 33 kWp plant installed at the Substation. Prayagraj Airport: The Airport is equipped with a solar power plant of 50kWp, helping the airport in energy conservation. The plant was commissioned in August 2019 and is currently catering to 8% of the total energy load of the airport.

Airports using Green Energy in India:

As of July 2022, 58 airports in India are using green energy. The list of the airports is as below:

S No.	State/UT	Name of the Airport
1	Andaman & Nicobar Islands (UT)	Portblair
2	Andhra Pradesh	Rajahmundry
3		Vijayawada
4		Tirupati
5	Assam	Dibrugarh
6		Jorhat
7		Silchar
8		Guwahati
9	Bihar	Gaya
10		Patna
11	Chhattisgarh	Raipur
12	Chandigarh (UT)	Chandigarh
13	Delhi (UT)	Safdarjung
14		IGI Airport
15	Gujarat	Rajkot
16		Vadodara
17		Bhuj
18		Ahmedabad
19	Jharkhand	Deoghar
20		Ranchi
21	Jammu & Kashmir	Jammu
22	Karnataka	KIA Bengaluru
23	Kerala	Calicut
24		Cochin
25		Kannur
26		Thiruvananthapuram
27	Ladakh (UT)	Leh
28	Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal
29		Indore
30	Maharashtra	Gondia
31		Juhu
32		Aurangabad
33		Nagpur
34		Pune
35		CSMI Airport Mumbai
36		Shirdi
37		Nashik (Ozar)
38	Manipur	Imphal
39	Odisha	Jharsuguda
40		Bhubaneswar
41	Puducherry (UT)	Puducherry
42	Punjab	Amritsar
43	Rajasthan	Kishangargh
44		Jaisalmer
45		Jodhpur
46		Jaipur
47	Tamil Nadu	Madurai
48		Chennai
49		Tiruchirapalli (Trichy)
50	Telangana	RGI Airport Hyderabad
51		Hyderabad (Begumpet)
52	Tripura	Agartala
53	Uttar Pradesh	Allahabad (Prayagraj)
54		Kanpur
55		Lucknow
56		Varanasi
57	West Bengal	Bagdogra
58		Kolkata

While ‘Green Energy‘ is just one aspect of the story of sustainable efforts at the Airports, we will look into other measures (such as GRIHA Rating) in the coming days. If you are a nature lover like us and a frequent flyer, reading this story must have given you that much needed fresh breather this morning! Keep reading aviationscoop as we cover more such initiatives and measures from the Aviation Industry.