A new plant has started functioning in Kochi Metro which has reached another milestone in generating electricity from solar. Loknath Behra, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited, inaugurated the 655 KW plant at Muttam Yard. The yard has elevator structures above the road and solar panels on top of them.
With this, KMRL has become the company that generates 58 percent of its total electricity demand from solar. KMRL is progressing to the point of generating the required electricity on its own. Solar power generation has now increased to 10.5 MW. Director Systems DK Sinha, General Managers A.Manikanthan, Mini Chhabra, Senior Deputy General Manager NS Regi, Manager L&E Shakib Muhammad and others participated in the function.
KMRL has the leading position among the PSUs in the state in producing maximum solar power. Track area, road area and barren land near Muttam yard have been converted into solar field. Kochi Metro is the first in India to start producing solar power by installing panels up to the top of the train tracks. In this way, KMRL started generating 5.191 MW of electricity through phase 3 solar project by installing solar panels on top of the track.
It became the first metro to generate electricity from the sky as it started generating electricity by installing solar panels seven meters above the track without disrupting train traffic. By installing solar panels, carbon emissions can be reduced by 3.4 lakh tonnes per year, equivalent to the environmental benefits of planting 5.4 lakh teak trees.