Western Railway Uses Solar Energy to Reduce Energy Consumption

Taking forward the commitment to energy savings and environmental conservation, Western Railway is taking giant strides in the path towards a “Green and Clean” railway. In this direction, Western Railway has installed solar plants at various railway stations and service office buildings, which generate clean energy and also result in savings on energy bills.

According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, the company is moving ahead with the mission to have a “Clean and Green Railway. Western Railway adopted several initiativesto restrain pollution and reduce carbon emissions. The installation of solar plants at railway stations and office buildings is one of the initiatives of Western Railway. Solar plants with a capacity of 6635 kW have been installed at 97 railway stations across Western Railways, while solar plants with a capacity of 3920.48 kW have been installed at over 46 railway office buildings. In the years 2021–2022, 7553178 units (KWh) of green energy have been generated by these solar plants, resulting in savings of more than Rs 3 crore on the energy bill on account of the difference in the per-unit cost of energy supplied by electricity boards versus the cost of energy generated by solar plants. The cumulative savings for the years 2022–23 are Rs. 2.15 crore, including the savings of the month of October 2022 is Rs. 30.22 lakh. Western Railway generated 3619241 kWh in the years 2021–22, in the Mumbai Central Division resulting in savings of Rs. 1.49 crore. In the current year, 257,2790 kWh were generated up to October 2022, resulting in savings of Rs. 1.11 crore.

Shri Thakur further informed that at smaller stations, the energy generated from solar plants is utilised to run the electrical equipment at stations such as lights, fans, computers, and even the street lighting in the circulating areas. At major stations, the energy generated is transmitted to the electricity grid, and the electric bill is generated using metered billing. Utilising solar energy to become a complete green mode of transportation is the ultimate goal of Railways to achieve 100% electrification by 2023. This initiative is in accordance with the recent decree of Prime Minister to solarize railway stations and utilize vacant railway land for Renewable Energy (RE) projects.

–An article by Shivani Gadre