solar powered airport

George Airport in South Africa is not only

Africa's first solar powered airport, it is also

the second of such in the world after India's

Cochin airport. 2000 solar panels provide

750Kw of energy daily which exceeds the

450Kw the airport needs to run its activities.

“Gone are the days when power failures used

to a be a big thing for the airport. We no

longer have those, said Brenda Voster,

Airport Manager.

The solar facility which cost about $1.2 million

to build has so far helped airport reduce its

carbon dioxide emissions by 1,229 tonnes,

the equivalent of 103,934 litres of fuel.

Also, there are plans to increase the capacity

of the power station by an extra 250 Kw.

“We’re quite excited about us embarking on

phase two. Phase two I should say in all

probability, will, have the back-up battery

facilities where we can then store any solar

that we generate through the day that we

are not using,” Brenda added. The busy

tavel hub handles about 700,000 passengers

annually

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