The Western Railway is working to contribute to Indian Railways’ goal of achieving ‘Net Zero Carbon Emission’ by 2030. Keeping its commitment to environment conservation as a priority, Western Railway is taking strides in the path towards sustainable energy.

To enhance the share of renewable energy, a combination of solar, wind and other renewable sources is planned based on strategic power procurement planning. Most of the renewable power projects for Indian Railways have been taken up under Power Purchase Agreement (developer mode).

Indian Railways aims to become a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030. Indian Railways has plans to source 30,000 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2029-30, with a current installation of 147 MW of solar plants and 103 MW of wind power plants.

Use of Solar Energy by Western Railway

Western Railway is using solar energy for its power requirements and has taken steps to increase the use of renewable energy.

As per Western Railway data, till December 2024, Solar panels of 13.72 MWp have been installed at 242 locations (146 stations and 96 service/office buildings/sheds/workshops) in all 6 divisions of Western Railway, including 50 locations on Mumbai Central Division, 35 locations on Vadodara Division, 61 locations on Ratlam Division, 17 locations on Ahmedabad Division, 34 locations on Rajkot Division and 45 locations on Bhavnagar Division. This has also resulted into considerable saving of revenue. This is equivalent to carbon absorption capability of 5,48,720 trees.

In FY 2023-24, solar panels on 6 divisions of Western Railway have generated 12.36 Million Units of electricity, which is equivalent to reducing carbon foot print of 9888.21 tonnes and resulted in a total saving of Rs 6.43 crore, as per a statement.

Apart from this, Western Railway has provided solar water heaters, solar street lights, solar panels at LC gates as part of green energy resources. Further, they are planning to install solar plants at all the buildings to the maximum extent to achieve nation’s mission to reduce carbon footprint.

Wind Turbine Solar Hybrid System

The Wind Turbine Solar Hybrid System with a capacity of 4 KWp each has been installed at Khar Road station and Naigaon station on pilot project basis. During the day solar modules convert the solar energy to electricity using the inbuilt solar charger.

Each turbine charge controller converts Variable Voltage Variable Frequency (VVVF) supply generated by Wind turbine (WT) into DC supply suitable for charging 24V battery bank. Inverter is used to convert the DC energy into AC supply of 230V, 50Hz, 1 Ph for the AC loads like lights, fans etc.

How it operates

Unutilised space between the tracks is used to generated energy by using Vertical Axis Wind Turbines.

Minimal space is required as compared to Horizontal axis wind turbines.

Energy production is done from the wind generated through the moving local and fast trains.

The system has maintenance free battery energy storage (BESS), due to which, the stored energy can be utilised when wind, solar and grid is not available.

Excess of energy generated can be exported to the utility grid.

Indian Railways’ green steps

A MoU was signed between Indian Railways, Government of India and the United States Agency for International Development/India (USAID/India) on June 14, 2023. The MoU includes different areas of cooperation such as long-term clean energy planning and procurement; development of energy efficiency policy; technical support for addressing regulatory and implementation barriers; and capacity building programmes.

Indian Railway has taken a number of initiatives to reduce its carbon emissions which include use of energy efficient technologies like completely switching over to production of three phase electric locomotives with regenerative features, use of head on generation (HOG) technology, use of LED lights in buildings and coaches, star rated appliances and afforestation.

In order to achieve its net zero goal by 2030, Indian Railways is working on electrifying railway tracks, with 80.61% of the broad-gauge network already electrified. Energy Efficiency initiatives include using LED lights, star-rated appliances, and regenerative braking in three-phase electric locomotives.

Indian Railways is planting around 1 crore trees annually to create additional carbon sinks. Indian Railways is setting up waste-to-energy plants and implementing effective waste management systems at railway stations. Many railway stations and buildings have achieved green certifications, demonstrating significant improvements in energy efficiency and water conservation.