Hardly a few years ago, probably nobody could have thought of India building and running advanced “Electric powered boats”.
This is an infrastructure update story from Kochi, Kerala.
The Cochin Shipyard Limited has delivered 23 such electric boats till now under “Make In India ” initiative, and 55 more will be delivered by the end of 2022. In fact, the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) had handed over the first Electric Hybrid 100 Pax water metro ferry to Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) on 31st Dec, 2021.
CSL is the largest commercial shipbuilder in India. It has also bagged a prestigious export order for construction and supply of two Autonomous Electric Ferry for ASKO Maritime AS, Norway with an option to build 2 more identical vessels.
That apart, the KMRL water metro ferry project will give a big boost to public transport in Kochi with its swift electric boats that offer modern amenities. Even the jetties from where the passengers will board these ferries will compete with Metro railway stations in infrastructure facilities.
Facts and Features about water metro ferry project:-
- This is a more than Rs 819-crore project. The Kochi Water Metro as an integrated water transport system will connect 10 islands surrounding the mainland of Kochi city. A network of 15 routes that span 76 km will be served by a fleet of 78 fast, electrically propelled hybrid ferries plying to and from 38 jetties.
- The Kochi Water Metro is the world’s largest integrated water transport system under a single command.
- Trial runs on a 50-seater air-conditioned electric boat had started in January 2022. The ferry service is expected to start in August this year. The regular headway of this water transport will use canals that open into backwaters and the ocean. More than 1,00,000 islanders are expected to avail the services.
- It is not only energy-efficient and environment-friendly, but also safe boats with low wake and draft characteristics. These boats are specially designed to be able to negotiate narrow channels even at high speed.
- For charging the batteries, superchargers are installed on floating pontoon jetties at select locations. It will take 10 to 15 minutes to get charged.
- Water metro is also planned to go solar.
- The electric boats will be using lithium-titanium-oxide (LTO) batteries, which are hailed as the safest among the available batteries.
- A major part of the total project cost of 819 crores, around Rs 579 crores is being financed under the Indo-German Financial Cooperation, with a long-term loan agreement of €85 million (Rs 579 crore) with KfW (Kreditanstault fur Weideraufbou), a German funding agency. This is under the Indo-German partnership program to reduce carbon emissions and increase the use clean and green energy in India, and the remaining Rs 100 crores is funded by the Government of Kerala, and the remaining Rs 140 crores by Government of India.
- This system will have a total length of 78 kms, and will be covered using 78 electric powered boats. It will have a total of 15 routes.
- It will have 38 floating jetty stations and 2 boat yards to park these boats.
- Out of 78 boats, 23 will have a capacity to carry 100 passengers and the remaining 55 will have a capacity to carry 50 passengers.
- These batteries power the electric motors attached to the propellers to push the boat forward and can achieve a speed of up to 12 knots (22 km/hr).
