Indian Railways takes decisive steps to transform itself as ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission

New Delhi, July 06: To transform as ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Mass Transportation Network by 2030, the Indian railway ministry has set up a Solar Power Plant in Bina in Madhya Pradesh to directly power the Railway Overhead Line. It going to be the first time in the world that such a unique power plant is installed.

 

According to Railway officials, this is the first time in the history of the world when solar energy will be used to run trains. The use of solar power will accelerate the Minister of Railways.

 

 

Indian Railways (IR) and BHEL officials have worked tirelessly to successfully implement this innovative project. The project was undertaken by BHEL under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme. Indian Railways will commission the 1.7 MW solar Power plant in the next 15 days which will save Rs 1.37 crore annually.

 

The plant will have stepped up the voltage of 25,000 volts through transformers to be fed to the overhead power lines of the Railways to power the traction system of the locomotives. The feed from the plant has been synchronised with the 25kV Railway Overhead Line. It involves the adoption of innovative technology for converting Direct Current (DC) to single-phase Alternating Current (AC) for feeding directly to Railway’s overhead traction system.

 

The solar power plant has been established near the Bina Traction Sub Station (TSS). It can produce approximately 25 lakh units of energy annually. These power plants will directly feed the traction power for locomotives. The plants will be completed in 2-3 years, and tenders have been already invited for the same.

 

The railways have already begun procuring energy from solar projects which include the 3 MWp solar plant set up at MCF Raebareilly in Uttar Pradesh. About 100 MWp rooftop solar systems have already been commissioned on various stations and buildings of Indian Railways.

 

In addition to this, two pilot projects for the scheme of land-based solar plants for meeting electric traction energy requirements of Indian Railways are under implementation. One of them is a 50 MWp solar power plant on vacant unused land at Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) which shall be connected with Central Transmission Utility (CTU) and is targeted to be commissioned before March 31, 2021. The 2 MWp solar plant at Diwana (Haryana) which shall be connected to State Transmission Utility (STU) is expected to be commissioned before August 31, 2020.

 

It is also adopting an innovative concept of installation of solar projects along operational railway lines. This will help in preventing encroachment, enhancing the speed and safety of trains, and reduction of infrastructure costs due to the direct injection of solar power into the traction network. Another tender for the installation of 1 GW solar plants along Railway tracks is also planned to be released soon by REMCL.

 

The use of solar energy in its operations will make Indian Railways the first transport organization to be energy self-sufficient. The move aims at transforming Railways to a complete 'Green Mode of Transportation.'