India Working to Convert Ships to Run on Green Energy: Pralhad Joshi

India is currently working on converting existing ships into vessels that run on green energy, Union minister of new and renewable energy Pralhad Joshi said on Monday in his address at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference in Germany.

The Minister said that the focus is now on converting existing vessels to operate on green hydrogen or its derivatives. The Shipping Corporation of India is currently converting two vessels to run on green methanol.

Joshi added that India is upgrading its port infrastructure to support green shipping fuels and vessels using hybrid fuels, with the goal of ranking among the top five shipbuilding nations by 2047, when India will complete a century of independence.

Joshi’s address is aligned with the Centre’s National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), which aims to produce five million metric tonnes of the green fuel every year by 2030. This scheme has attracted over $100 billion in investments and created six lakh (600,000) jobs, Joshi said in his address, adding that pilot projects under the NGHM, with an investment of $14 million, are already exploring the use of green hydrogen in the shipping sector.

The government is not only focused on greening ships, but is also making India’s major ports compatible with new technology required to handle the non-polluting fuel. Ports such as Deendayal, Paradip, and V.O. Chidambaranar are being developed into key hydrogen hubs with bunkering and refuelling facilities to support green hydrogen-powered ships, Joshi said in his address.

He highlighted India’s growth in renewable energy generation capacities, and said the International Solar Alliance had played a pivotal role in making a India a global leader in the domain. Over the past decade, India’s renewable energy capacity has grown 175%, from 75 GW to over 208 GW today, Joshi said. He added that total renewable energy generation has risen 86% over the same period, from 193.5 billion units (BU) to 360 BU.

Joshi also said India’s solar energy capacity has grown 33 times over the same period.

The Union minister’s address came only three weeks after the government of India’s key investment summit for renewable energy, Re-Invest, where renewable energy developers, manufacturing companies, as well as banks committed about ₹32 trillion to the development of renewable energy projects by 2030.

Beyond the figures and numbers, this is a big commitment by states, developers, banks, and financial institutions to join hands and work together for a cleaner and sustainable India, Joshi had said after the conclave in September.

Joshi said that energy security and access remain paramount for India, but this has never hindered the nation’s commitment to energy transition on both national and global scales.