Kerala's "Aditya" has won the prestigious Gustave Trouve Award for the Best Electric Ferry in the World. This is India's first solar-powered ferry and was the only entry from Asia for this award.
A thread since the mainstream Indian media will not give this its due importance.
A thread since the mainstream Indian media will not give this its due importance.
Aditya, operated by Kerala State Water Transport Department, commenced its operations in Vembanad backwaters after being inaugurated in January 2017. It's been operating between Vaikkom and Thavanakkadavu in Alapuzha district for the last 3 years.
"Every day she makes 22 trips with 75 people on board – that’s 580,000 people a year – and the charging cost to top up the batteries is $2.60 a day – preventing the burning of 58,000 litres of diesel and saving ₹ 4,612,000 – $ 65,000 a year,” the Award reads.
According to Kerala CM @vijayanpinarayi, 3 years of ferry service has resulted in a savings of 1 Lakh litre of diesel and a reduction of CO2 by 280 tonnes. He estimates that the project will break even and start churning out an annual profit of ₹25 lakh by the end of this year.
"Apart from being an affordable public transport option, Aditya has caught international attention due to its eco-friendliness. Representatives from 40+ countries have already visited us and have decided to follow suit and so have many other Indian states," says @vijayanpinarayi.
Aditya was built by a Kochi based start-up called NavAlt which was founded in 2013 with the vision of transforming marine transport by drastically reducing the energy for its operation while being eco-friendly.
Check out their website here: navaltboats.com
Check out their website here: navaltboats.com
Next month, NavAlt is expected to operationalise a double-decker A solar-powered ferry for 100 passengers to be run on tourist circuits in Alapuzha. Five more passenger ferries will be released by next year according to Sandith Thandassery, the founder-CEO of NavAlt.
"We can take this project from Kerala to other countries," says Upendra Tripathy, the Director-General of International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Here is a short video of the ISA delegation visiting Aditya:
Here is a short video of the ISA delegation visiting Aditya:
"A low-cost eco-friendly boat ride!"
Here is another short video of @CNBCTV18News crew taking a ride on Aditya in 2017 and sharing their observations.
Here is another short video of @CNBCTV18News crew taking a ride on Aditya in 2017 and sharing their observations.
This short animation by NavAlt team shows the various modes in which Aditya is working - sunny day, cloudy day as well as night time shore charging.
