The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been implementing broad-based Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Programme on New Technologies such as Hydrogen Energy, Fuel Cells, Battery Operated Electric Vehicles, Bio-Fuels, Tidal Energy and Geothermal Energy through research and academic institutions and state nodal agencies for more than a decade. Financial support up to 100% of project cost is provided by the Ministry for implementation of RD&D projects.
As a result of RD&D Programme of the Ministry, laboratory scale and industrial prototypes of hydrogen energy and fuel cell based systems for stationary power generation and automotive applications have been developed and demonstrated. A total of 20 R&D projects in the area of biofuels and 30 projects in the area of hydrogen energy and fuel cells, supported by the Ministry, are presently in progress at various research and academic institutions.
About 47,000 numbers of battery operated vehicles have been deployed in the country with the financial support provided by the Ministry. A study undertaken for the assessment of tidal power potential in the country by the Central Electricity Authority, estimated potential of about 7,000 MW in the country. The total estimated potential for geothermal based power generation in the country is around 10,000 MW. Further, the Ministry has supported resource assessment studies at potential geothermal sites.
This information was given by Minister for New & Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah in the Rajya Sabha today.
