Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has landed another feather in its cap – this time, for going greener in an innovative way. The airport has won a spot in the Green Airports Recognition 2025 awards, organised by Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific & Middle East.
The award acknowledges CIAL’s unique solar power project at Payyannur in Kannur – a terrain-based solar power plant designed with the land’s natural slope in mind.
The accolade came under the 6–15 million passengers per annum category, a segment where CIAL seems to be making a habit of standing out.
While solar installations in flat lands are more common, CIAL went the extra mile – or rather, embraced every slope – by installing the plant without altering the terrain. That, in itself, was the game-changer.
Commissioned in 2022 on a 35-acre site, the project stands out for preserving the land’s natural gradient. No levelling, no flattening. Instead, the solar panels follow the lay of the land. The result? More panels in less space.
To put numbers on it: where typical flat-land solar setups need around 3.75 acres per megawatt (MW), CIAL’s method uses just 2.75 acres per MW. That’s a sizeable land saving. More impressively, the approach allowed them to install 35% more solar panels – and naturally, more panels mean more power.
CIAL Managing Director S. Suhas received the award from ACI President S.G.K. Kishore during a ceremony in New Delhi. Also present were Airport Director Manu G. and ACI International Asia-Pacific director general Stefano Baronci.
Suhas said the airport is constantly upgrading its energy capacity in line with its infrastructure growth. At the moment, CIAL’s total solar power capacity stands at 50 MW.
In its official note, ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East said CIAL’s project “stood out” among a long list of entries in 2024. The award aims to spotlight airports that are finding creative ways to reduce their environmental footprint.
Back in 2015, CIAL had made headlines for being the first airport in the world to run entirely on solar power. A decade later, the team seems to be continuing that momentum – not by repeating old formulas, but by experimenting with new formats and challenging conventional design ideas.
