Central Railway Has Installed a Floating Solar Plant

The Central Railway has installed a floating solar plant of 10 MWp capacity in the Igatpuri lake located in the Western Ghats, a first-of-its-kind initiative by the Indian Railways. Central Railway has always played an active role in opting for clean & renewable energy for its traction requirements and has taken various bold and revolutionary steps to fulfil the same.

Harnessing Solar and Wind Power

Moving towards its ultimate goal of zero carbon emission by 2030, Central Railway has commissioned 12.05 MWp solar plants by utilizing rooftop of Railway stations and buildings, out of which, 4 MWp solar plants were provided last year. MWP stands for Mega Watt Peak which is a measure of maximum potential output of power). This has resulted in a saving of Rs.4.62 crores in the year 2023-24 and saving in carbon footprints of 6594.81 MT. There are further plans to install an additional 7 MWp Solar plants in the current year.

Moving towards renewable energy

Steps have also been taken to move towards renewable energy.  At present, 56.4 MW wind energy and 61 MW solar energy is being tapped.  Further, PPAs have been signed for utilization of 325 MW solar and wind energy, which will be on ‘Round-the-Clock’ basis.  Besides this, 180 MW solar and 50 MW wind power is also likely to flow in the current financial year.These initiatives are equivalent to saving  2,50,000 trees. i.e the benefit provided by these measures are equal to that of the benefit provided by 2,50,000 trees.

Floating Solar Plant-1st on Indian Railways

Another different initiative being undertaken by Central Railway is installation of Floating Solar Plant of 10 MWp capacity in Igatpuri Lake which will be the first of its kind on Indian Railway.

Benefits

The present monthly power consumption of Central Railway is 236.92 million units for Traction work and 9.7 million units for Non-traction work. After the commissioning of the above sources of renewable energy, it is expected that 70% of the traction energy will be green.

Recognition

In an effort to encourage the building owners and promotors to make energy-efficient buildings and further making improvements to make it net zero or net positive energy buildings, The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has introduced a labeling programme called Shunya for Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) and Shunya Plus for Net Positive Energy Buildings (NPEB).

Goal

Considering the dedicated efforts put in by Central Railway towards conservation of environment, The Bureau of Energy Efficiency has awarded Shunya Plus label to five buildings and Shunya label to two buildings of Central Railway as on date. Central Railway remains committed to leveraging renewable energy sources, utilizing solar power, installation of Wind energy resources, providing adequate passenger amenities and contributing significantly towards Indian Railway’s goal of a Green Earth.