Boats of riverine Bangladesh go solar, soon: SREDA

Bangladesh Energy and Power Research Council (BEPRC) will promote solar boats in the country. They are going to launch a project next month along with Eco Marine Ltd who are already operating a solar powered tourist boat, successfully.

Solar powered boat was first introduced by the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) in the country, in 2017. With the help of UNDP, they made five solar powered boats which were delivered in December 2018 to the contracting company, Solar E Technology Ltd.

Of those five boats, one is being operated in Hatirjheel lake in the capital. However, the solar panels did fail to fulfill its energy demand, sources concerned said.

That time a committee of SREDA advised the operator to trim the loaded weight of the boat as it was made of steel and required more energy than that of a fiber one.

The committee also advised the operator to use battery swap system or solar powered charging system, when necessary, for the future solar boats. But, Eco Marine Ltd, a private company, solved the problem in their own way.

The company got help from a French solar boat designer, Michel O’ Con who had designed a 67-feet-long boat made of fiber and wood and whose hull design is totally different from conventional boats. And, those fiber-made boats need less energy to operate.

“We only need eight kilowatt worth of energy to operate such a big boat if it is light weighted having the special hull”, said Captain Abdullah Mahmud, the owner of the company, Eco Marine.

Mahmud said they even covered less than 30 percent of the rooftop with solar panels.

After telecasting the success story of Iron (the boat in Hatirjheel lake) by a private television channel, SREDA got back its interest in promoting such kinds of boats, across the country.

“We don’t have any budget for it, so we contacted BEPRC, so that they may develop it. Eco Marine Ltd already proposed this through SREDA”, said Salima Jahan, one of the members of SREDA.

Bangladesh is a riverine country where more than 5 lakhs boats ply of which most are diesel-powered and, therefore, expensive for the users. For those motorized vessels, the country needs a big amount of funds for fuel oil import. The vessels are not environment friendly as they pollute Bangladesh’s environment.

“Also, the operating cargo ships need some huge amount of energy and those vessels could not be run by solar energy. However, all of our passenger and tourist boats could be converted into solar boats,” said Captain Mahmud.

BEPRC already made a plan to operate such boats in Rangamati lake and more boats in the Hatirjheel lake. The matter is under discussion with Eco Marine Ltd, he told Business Insider Bangladesh.

Eco Marine Ltd and BEPRC officials both hope that the deal may be finalized within next month and within a few months these boats will sail.