By Business India Editorial

The Delhi Airport has moved to green energy and uses only hydro and solar power for all its energy needs from 1 June. With this, the Delhi Airport has become the first airport in India to run entirely on hydro and solar power.

This is a major step by the airport towards achieving the ambitious goal of becoming a net-zero carbon emission airport by 2030.

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a GMR Infrastructure Limited (GIL)-led consortium, which manages and operates the Delhi Airport, has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with a Himachal Pradesh-based hydro power producing company for the supply of hydroelectricity for the airport until 2036.

Approximately 6 per cent of the airport’s electricity requirement is met from the onsite solar power plants. These plants are on the airside and on the roofs of the cargo terminals of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.

Since 1 June, the Delhi Airport has adopted renewable energy use from the hydropower plant for its demand of the remaining 94 per cent, thus ending its dependency on non-renewable power. This move will help Delhi Airport in the reduction of indirect energy emissions of whopping 200,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.

Besides, DIAL has a 7.84 MW solar power plant on the airside, whereas as part of stakeholder collaboration, operators of the cargo terminals at Delhi Airport have added another 5.3 MW rooftop solar power plant.

Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, DIAL, said: “DIAL has been working relentlessly towards environmental sustainability and has set its target to make Delhi Airport a net-zero carbon emission airport by 2030, way ahead of the global target of 2050. To achieve this, DIAL has adopted a Green Transportation program recently and now we achieved another milestone of the Green Energy Program for IGIA. Delhi Airport has been using solar power for a long time and it is now fulfilling its major electricity needs from a hydropower plant. Running Delhi Airport completely on renewable sources of energy is indeed a major milestone achieved by DIAL. This initiative has further consolidated DIAL's positioning as one of the greenest airports globally.”

The DIAL has been continuously working towards establishing sustainability initiatives at the Delhi Airport. The company is focusing on various initiatives such as renewable energy development and usage, energy efficiency, green building, programs with airlines, operational efficiency measures, green transportation, tree plantation, and management of greenhouse gases (GHG) as per the world body of airport, Airport Council International's (ACI) Airport Carbon Accreditation.

As part of environmental sustainability initiatives, DIAL has introduced TaxiBots at the IGI Airport in 2019. The use of Taxibots by airlines has helped reduce the consumption of fuel by an aircraft during taxiing, and correspondingly reduction of carbon emissions.

As a part of the Green Transportation Program, DIAL has initiated the adoption of the electric vehicle and, phase out all the diesel- and petrol-run vehicles in a phased manner. In the first phase, DIAL will procure 62 EVs that would join the fleet in three to four months, which would reduce approximately 1,000 tonnes of GHG emissions annually.

DIAL will also install high voltage and fast-charging stations at strategic locations to meet the requirements of these vehicles and other airport stakeholders.