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RECENT NEWS
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www.wr.indianrailways.gov.in- 2020-09-02
WESTERN RAILWAY INSTALLED ROOFTOP SOLAR PANELS OF 5601.69 KWp CAPACITY AT 75 STATIONS Photo caption :- A view of the solar power panels installed oÂn rooftop of a railway station. In order to achieve the objective of Indian Railways to become 100% self sustainable for all it's power needs and also to contribute to national solar power goals, Western Railway has solarised its 75 stations till date. The use of solar power will accelerate the Railway's mission to achieve the goal of becoming “Net Zero Carbon Emission Railwayâ€before 2030. According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, suitable Rooftop Solar Panels have been installed at 75 stations over Western Rly. 8.67 MWpcapacity rooftop solar plants have been provided at various railway stations and office buildings. These plants have been commissioned and connected to grid and as a result, there is a saving ofRs. 3 crore is accrued during the financial year. Shri Thakur informed that Solar Plants have been installed at 22 stations in Mumbai Division, 34 stations in Ratlam Division, 6 stations of Vadodara Division & 8 stations in Rajkot Division. Similarly, in Ahmedabad Division, solar plants have been installed at Sabarmati & Ambli Road stations as well as Ahmedabad station building whereas in Bhavnagar Division at Bhavnagar station & Somnath station building. In Mumbai Division, the rooftop Solar Plants have been installed at Churchgate, Grant Road, Matunga Road, Andheri, Mumbai Central, Lower Parel, Mahim, Khar Road, Santacruz, Ram Mandir, Malad, Kandivali, Borivali, Dahisar, Mira Road, Bhayander, Naigaon, Vasai Road, Nallasopara, Dahanu Road stations, while atDadar as well as at Bandra Terminus, station buildings & platforms. In Ratlam Division, rooftop Solar Plants have been installed at Chanderiya, Nimbhera, Gambhiri, Jawad Road, MangliyaGaon, Ajnod, Lakshmibai Nagar, Ranyal, Jasmiya, Pipliya, Mandsaur, Nauganwan, Runija, Bangrod, Sehore, Kalapipla, Pachwan, Maksi, Vikramnagar station buildings, Indore, Ujjain, Dewas, Chittaurgadh, Meghnagar, Bajrangarh, Fatehabad, Gautampura, Dr. Ambedkar Nagar (Mhow), Nagda, Nimach, Jaora,Badnagar, Shujalpur, Kachrod stations and at Ratlam station building & platforms. In Vadodara Division, the rooftop Solar Plants have been installed at Vadodara, Od, Makarpura, Varnarna, Sadhanpura station buildings and at Godhra staton building & platforms. In Rajkot Division, the rooftop Solar Plants have been installed at Rajkot, Okha, Jamnagar, Chamaraj, Lakhamachi, Modpur, Lakhabawal and Pipli stations. It is worth mentioning that Indian Railways is set to produce solar energy for meeting all it's energy consumption needs of more than 33 billion units by 2030. Current annual requirement is about 20 billion units. Indian Railways has a mega plan for installing solar plants of 20 GW capacity by 2030 by utilizing its vacant land. About 51,000 hectares of vacant land is available with Indian Railways and is now ready to extend all support to the developers for installing solar power plants oÂn Railway’s vacant un-encroached land. It may be noted that Railways is also set to achieve 100% electrification by the year 2023 and is committed to utilize solar energy for meeting its traction power requirement and become a complete ‘Green mode of transportation’. This is in line with the recent directive of Hon’ble Prime Minister to solarise railway stations and utilize vacant railway land for Renewable Energy (RE) projects. ****** 2
www.nfr.indianrailways.gov.in- 2020-08-03
Although Railway is one of the least polluting means of transportation, the Indian Railway is fully aware of its responsibilities for a positive contribution to preserving the environment for our future generation. In that direction, the Indian Railway has taken a conscious decision to reduce its carbon footprint by reducing energy consumption which is produced by using fossil fuel. A new dawn ushers on Indian Railways as it endeavours to be self-reliant for its energy needs as directed by the Prime Minister and solarise railway stations by utilizing its vacant lands for Renewable Energy (RE) projects. The Railway is committed to utilize solar energy for meeting its traction power requirements and become a complete ‘Green mode of transportation’. The Ministry of Railways has decided to install solar power plants on its vacant unused lands on mega-scale. The use of solar power will accelerate the mission to achieve the conversion of Indian Railways to ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Railway. It can also be mentioned here that, in a remarkable achievement, Guwahati station became the first railway station in Northeast to be fully powered with grid-connected Solar Power with commissioning of a 700 KWp solar plant in the year 2017. Already, roof-mounted solar panels in various offices, station buildings; level crossing gates in the NFR area are generating about 2718 KWp of Solar Power which enabled savings of more than Rs. 2.22 crore from annual conventional energy bills. By the end of the current financial year, NFR will be generating an additional 3000 Kwp of solar power. Many other projects are on hand in NFR to augment the solar power generation capacity. Which once completed will generate clean & green electricity with savings of about Rs. 4.73 crore from annual conventional energy bills. Indian Railways present demand would be fulfilled by the solar projects being deployed, making it the first transport organisation to be energy self-sufficient. This would help in making Indian Railways green as well as ‘Atma Nirbhar’. Indian Railways has acted as a pioneer in green energy procurement. It has started energy procurement from various solar projects like 3 MWp solar plant set up at MCF Raebareilly (UP). About 100 MWp rooftop solar systems have already been commissioned on various stations and buildings of Indian Railways. Besides, one project of 1.7 MWp at Bina (Madhya Pradesh) which will be connected directly to Overhead Traction System has already been installed and is presently under extensive testing. It is likely to be commissioned within 15 days. This is the first of its kind project in the world commissioned by Indian Railways in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL) is working relentlessly to further spread the use of solar energy on mega scale. It has already floated the tenders for 2 GW of solar projects for Indian Railways to be installed on unutilised railway lands. Indian Railways 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 direct injection of solar power into the traction network. Another tender for installation of 1 GW solar plants along Railway tracks is also planned to be released soon by REMCL. With these mega initiatives, Indian Railways is leading India’s fight against climate challenge and is taking significant steps towards meeting its ambitious goal of being a net-zero carbon emissions organisation and meeting India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) targets. (Subhanan Chanda) CPRO/N.F. Railway | ||||||||