Tirupati international airport will run on solar energy now

TIRUPATI: Tirupati airport has gone solar. It has now joined the list of airports powered by solar energy. Vijayawada airport is the only other airport in the state to have solar energy facility.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Thursday inaugurated one megawatt power solar plant at Tirupati international airport. The power plant was installed by Fourth Partner Energy.
S Sreekumar, regional executive director, AAI, turned on the plant.He said, “our aim is to ensure that Tirupati, along with all airports across south India operate completely on solar power within three years. We will also be commissioning eight MW plants at Hubli and Kadapa airports shortly.”
Tirupati’s ground-mounted solar plant was installed on four acres of land, parallel to the airport runway and its isolation bay. “Tirupati enjoys bright, sunny weather most of the year; the usability of solar power increases at daytime when the plant can meet over 75% of required electricity; at night, this airport is currently non-operational,” said S Suresh, airport director.
AAI has also provisioned for expansion of the airport, aiming to soon make it operational round the clock. Excess power generated at Tirupati airport will then be routed back to the national grid via net metering, in line with Andhra Pradesh’s renewable energy policy.