Indian Railways plans to harness 500 mw of solar power

It plans to source 20% of its energy demand through renewable sources

In a major push to the clean energy sector and energy management by the Indian railways, one of the country’s largest power consumers, government is looking up to the sun now.

 

“It is proposed to harness solar energy by utilizing roof top spaces of railway stations, other railway buildings and land, including through the PPP mode,” said the railway minister Sadananda Gowda in the Rail Budget-2014 speech.

 

Officials, dealing with the matter said that the railways is planning to source 20% of its energy demand through renewable sources, major being solar. 

 

“Around 500 mw of power would be sourced from rooftop solar applications on stations, administration buildings and vacant lands. The timeline for the execution is 2 to 3 years,” said an official tracking the energy management of Indian railways. The annual power demand of the railways is 4,000 mw.

 

Officials said that the total entailed expenditure would be Rs 4,000 crore. Surplus power produced by the solar power plants would be traded by the Railways, which hopes to save on its electricity bill totalling Rs 9,000 crore annually.

 

The first phase of the program would be implemented in Delhi and Katra, taking a cue out from PM Narendra Modi’s speech in Katra on Monday, talking about utilising solar power in premises of railway stations. 

 

Modi while flagging off the new ‘Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-Udhampur railway line’ last week said that the Katra railway station could be a model solar station.

 

Apart from solar, railways will also start using ‘Bio-Diesel’ up to 5% of the total fuel consumption in diesel locomotives.