Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off India’s first indigenously built hydrogen fuel cell ferry boat on February 28 in Tamil Nadu.
Key features
- The vessel, manufactured by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), will be deployed for service at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
- The pilot vessel is a 24-metre catamaran which can carry 50 passengers with fully air-conditioned passenger space.
- It will make urban mobility smooth and easy, according to a release issued by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).
- The hydrogen cell-powered inland waterway vessel under the Harit Nauka initiative. The V.O.Chidambaranar Port is also the first Green Hydrogen Hub Port of the country and the projects include a desalination plant, hydrogen production and bunkering facility.
- The hydrogen fuel vessel has fully home-grown technology and it can be replicated in other parts of the country for urban mobility application.
Hydrogen fuel cell
- They do not use conventional batteries as the primary storage house of electrical energy.
- The vessels run on hydrogen fuel, which is stored in cylinders. This boat has five hydrogen cylinders that can carry 40kg of hydrogen and support eight hours of operations.
- The vessel is also fitted with a 3-kW solar panel.
- The hydrogen fuel cell-powered vessel has zero emission, zero noise and is energy-efficient, which makes it more environment-friendly.
- A hydrogen fuel cell generates electricity by utilising the chemical energy contained in hydrogen. It releases only pure water, not discharging pollutants.
- Hydrogen is loaded into cells. The energy within the hydrogen is converted into electricity and heat, which is then used to power the vessel’s propulsion mechanism.
- In the fuel cell, the hydrogen reacts with the oxygen in the air to produce electricity.
- Hydrogen fuel cells do not require recharging.
