New Mangalore Port becomes India’s first port operating on solar power

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, June 11, 2017: In a statement port authorities said that New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has become the first among 12 major ports in the country to go completely green, without depending on external sources for energy and water and extending green cover in its sprawling premises.

Day to day power requirement of about 26,000 units for the port operations, including the residential colony, is being taken care by solar power generated from about 5.2 MW plants.  NMPT chairman P.C. Parida, reiterated that no other port had yet become self-sufficient in power.

(File Photo)

NMPT’s tryst with solar power began after the Centre asked major ports to go green in 2015. It started with a 350 kW rooftop power plant in April 2016, followed by a 4 MW ground-mounted photovoltaic plant on a sprawling 14 acres. It is in the process of commissioning another 840 kW rooftop power plant, Mr. Parida told The Hindu .

At the end of the year, the port might face a shortage of 50,000 units of power in all. While it has spent about Rs. 33 crore on solar plants, the annual saving in power bill comes to about Rs. 5 crore apart from social benefits, Chairman  Parida noted. It used to buy power at Rs. 9 per unit from MESCOM while the cost of solar power comes to less than Rs. 3 per unit.

First in the region
NMPT’s Superintending Engineer (Electrical) Haleshappa, who executed the projects, said that the ground-mounted plant was the first of such projects in the region. The 4 MW plant has come up at Peacock Garden, in NMPT residential colony. As many as 16,608 solar panels of 256 Wp have been erected on the ground, while the power generated is converted to alternating current and synchronised with MESCOM grid at 33 kV voltage level, he said. The annual CO2 footprint savings is estimated at 3,700 tonnes. The contract for solar plants includes their maintenance by the contractor for a period of 10 years, he added.

Chairman Parida said public sector undertakings can produce more solar power and feed it to the grid if the government offers land free of cost on lease. NMPT is prepared to invest on solar plants if the land is given and sell the power to power supply companies, he said.


The name : The well must have got the name from an erstwhile resident of Panambur village, whose lands were acquired for the port, NMPT chairman P.C. Parida said. Only during two months of summer, the yield reduces to about 1.2 lakh litres, during which time NMPT draws water from the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC), about 40,000 litres once in two days, he said.

During this time, water supply is restricted to half-an-hour thrice a day from the normal one hour thrice a day, he said.

The well is fed by a four-acre tank next to it, which gets filled up with rainwater during the monsoon, said NMPT Superintending Engineer (Electrical), Haleshappa. Rainwater from the entire residential colony is diverted to the tank for the purpose, he added.

Saplings planted: The Chairman also said the port has been planting at least 5,000 tree saplings every year, with a survival rate of about 2,500. The green initiative was launched in 2011 by the then Deputy Chairman T.S.N. Murthy.