The fleet of 78 battery-operated aluminium ferries that would be introduced as part of the ₹747-crore Water Metro project in Kochi will mainly rely on power sourced from land-based solar plants located atop boat terminals and floating pontoons.
Efforts are also under way to establish a solar power plant, to increase the share of solar power needed for the air-conditioned vessels to operate. Each vessel will also have a diesel-run generator to provide power if there is a shortfall in power from batteries. The solar power generated by panels at the ferry terminals will be given to the Kerala State Electricity Board and they will provide an equivalent as required to charge batteries of the ferries, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) sources said.
The KMRL already has a solar plant adjacent to its coach depot at Muttom, which meets 60% power needs of Kochi metro.
Unlike Aditya — India’s first solar ferry operated by the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) in the Vaikom-Panavally route — the roofs of Water Metro vessels, including 23 which are under construction at Cochin Shipyard, will not have solar panels atop them. This is because Water Metro vessels are expected to travel at higher speed than Aditya and thus would have a sleeker design with a smaller roof area. Moreover, power-generating capacity is a must for these vessels since they would be air-conditioned, unlike Aditya, said K. Sivaprasad, a naval architect and professor at Cusat’s Department of Ship Technology.
A new chapter
Referring to aluminium replacing steel as the material for each vessel’s hull, he said this would open a new chapter in aluminium fabrication in the passenger-ferry sector in Kerala.
Being lighter than steel, aluminium would increase energy efficiency, thus lessening reliance on fossil fuels. It would also lessen the life-cycle cost of each vessel, said yet another naval architect.
“On the flip side, solar power could have been used to a bigger extent if Water Metro ferries did not have AC or were only partly AC. Air-conditioning would increase both the capital and operational expense. This would reflect in the fare too. Water Metro ferries would thus have to compete with ferries operated by SWTD in the West Kochi sector at very low fares,” he said.
The State government had sought inclusion of water transport projects, including Water Metro, in the Centre’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME-2) scheme, so that its electric boats can get incentives similar to those available for electric buses, three and four-wheelers used for commercial purposes.
The first lot of 23 ferries that will be procured under the Water Metro project will use Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO) batteries. They are more advanced and effective than lithium-ion batteries. Though costlier, the life-cycle cost of LTO batteries is lesser than that of lithium-ion ones. They charge faster, have better range and need be replaced only after 35,000 cycles of recharging. Under FAME, the Centre can also invest in setting up charging stations.