Following the news that the Indian Navy inaugurated its largest solar power plant with a capacity of 3 MW in Kerala;

Mathew George, Ph.D., Aerospace & Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Sustainability is a trend that has been in the focus of militaries across the world with an increased attention on operational efficiencies and reduction of the environmental impacts of daily operations. These were outlined as a part of the Indian Navy’s Environment Conservation Roadmap (INECR), when it pledged 1.5% of its ‘Works’ budget towards Renewable Energy generation and planned 24 MW of solar power generation projects.

“This is the second announcement on sustainability made by the Indian Navy within a span of three days with another solar plant of 2 MW inaugurated in Mumbai on 20 July 2020. Both plants showcased and highlighted the use of a 100% indigenous components. The potential of renewable energy isn’t just limited to shore-based naval operations. The Indian Navy has previously adopted solar as a power source for systems on the INS Sarvekshak auxiliary ship.

“Autonomous operations decoupled from the vagaries of national power supply, and the development of local infrastructure to reduce the dependence on any external influence is the other goal here. The effects here are to highlight indigenization and local industry capability while also focusing on the reduction of environmental impacts of the Indian Navy.”