Navy vows to spend 1.5% of budget on green energy

As part of its green initiatives, the Indian Navy has pledged to spend 1.5 per cent of its budget on renewable energy generation and is consulting the ministry of new and renewable energy on harnessing energy from the ocean.

Under this scheme, solar photovoltaic (PV) projects are being undertaken at various naval stations across all Commands.

Naval stations, with scarce available land, have resorted to deploying rooftop solar panels.

"While the renewable energy scenario in the country is dominated by solar and wind energy, the Navy is also exploring the possibility of harnessing renewable energy from the ocean.

"Towards this, in consultation with pioneers in the field and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, feasibility of exploiting Ocean Thermal Energy and Wave Energy as sources of power, are under discussion," the Navy said in a statement.

In January this year, the Navy set up an energy and environment cell at the Naval Headquarters to monitor implementation of green measures.

This cell has been tasked to enable the Navy's aim of "adding a green footprint" to its blue water operations and make it an environmentally responsible force which is not only energy and resource efficient but also resilient to energy costs/disruptions.

"Key result areas of the Navy's Energy and Environment Policy underline the triple bottom-line approach of energy conservation, diversification of energy supply and minimising environment impact," the statement said.

"The Navy has initiated concerted steps to reduce carbon footprint through efficient ship design and operations. Mass energy conservation awareness drives are conducted regularly at all commands and repair yards to continuously educate and sensitise personnel on the importance of energy/environment conservation in an effort to make this a way of life.

"Apart from greater awareness of the naval fraternity, the efforts have resulted in significant savings of approximately Rs 12 crore annually," the Navy said.

The Navy has set itself a target of 21 MW Solar PV installation. The initiative is in line with the National Mission of Mega Watt to Giga Watt towards achieving 100 GW Solar PV installations by 2022.