KOCHI: Plying between Vaikom and Thavanakkadavu on the Vembanad lake is ‘Aditya’, now the world’s best electric boat designed for paid passenger service. Operated by the Kerala State Water Transport Department and built by NavAlt Solar and Electric Boats, Kochi, the India’s first solar-powered ferry won a global honour recently – the prestigious Gustave Trouve Award for Excellence in Electric Boats and Boating.
The award is a testimony to the sheer brilliance of the economically and financially-viable green model. The boat requires just Rs 180 per day in energy cost, compared to nearly Rs 8,000 for a diesel-run ferry, probably making it the world’s cheapest form of public transport. TNIE spoke to Sandith Thandasherry, founder and CEO, NavAlt Solar and Electric Boats, on the significance of the award and the beginning of new conversations on similar models.
You studied naval architecture, and you’ve had ample experience in the shipping industry. How did the idea for ‘Aditya’ come about? We started making small, efficient fishing solar boats right from 2008 but we realised that economic benefits may not be reaped unless there is asset utilisation. In India, even if a boat is technologically distinguished and environment-friendly, you will have no buyers if it isn’t economically viable.
We realised that public transport has its advantages with scheduled time travel alongside planned energy consumption and light cargo. During the time, we found that diesel boats had a per day expense of Rs 7,500 for 100 litres of fuel but the revenue was only Rs 5,000. While this is the case with all kinds of public transport, it is worse in water transport as ticket prices are subsidised. To make the service viable, government of Kerala (GoK) was looking for solar boats. A tender was floated and we bagged the opportunity.
Did you have a specific model as your base or was the entire system redesigned?
We were looking at large public ferries operating in Europe – but they have a fundamental difference – they’re heavily electric with big batteries and low on solar, as they are grant funded. Our key focus was to reduce the battery size to decrease the cost. The weight was reduced by half and the power required by one-third. Hence, we made significant changes in terms of design.
The Gustave Trouve Award is a prestigious and coveted honour. What does it mean to you, the state and the country?
From an award perspective, it is the only for electric boats and we’ve outbid our rival European boats. Therefore, it is a proud moment for us. Albeit, there must be a realisation on an end-user perspective that solar ferries genuinely work well and that we require more. GoK is convinced which explains the requirement for more such boats from us. The state government knows the benefits from a sustainability point of view. Hopefully, other states will see the advantage and replicate the same. A few have already taken action. But the Central government needs to wake up from its slumber. There is ample support for electric cars, buses and bikes but not for water transport.
Is there lesser reliance and trust in Indian technology within the country?
Definitely. For example, the Cochin Shipyard and the Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea, the largest in the world, were built in the same year. While the latter makes several 100 large ships in a year, the former can barely make one in a year. Hyundai creates every critical item of the ship, Cochin Shipyard imports every component and merely assembles them. There is no trust in local technology. Also, foreign vendors are favoured. I hope there is some course correction in the wake of this award.
What does the future beckon for NavAlt?
There are six boats on the horizon. The first is a 100-passenger double-decker air-conditioned solar ferry for tourism. It will be unveiled this October. The other five will have 20 per cent higher performance than the first boat. Aditya 2 will have a longer range with efficient systems, motors and will be better-looking. We are also working with The Shell Foundation for fishing boats catering to small fishermen. The future is very bright.