SOLAR ENERGY USE: THE GAME CHANGER FOR RAILWAYS Pradeep Chaturvedi Vice President (Energy Committee) World Federation of Engineering Organisations Paper Presented at Seminar on “Solar Energy – Opportunities in Rail Sector” organised by IET, IREE and DMRC under the aegis of UNDP-GEF on August 4, 2015 at New Delhi

Why Energy? Energy is the golden thread that connects economic growth, increased social equity and an environment that allows the world to thrive. -- UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon Railways also connects economic growth, social equality and the low cost and low CO 2 eq emission/capita/km of journey

Sustainable Energy for All Initiative One Goal: Ensuring Sustainable Energy for All by 2030 Three Objectives:  Ensuring universal access to modern energy services  Doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency  Doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix This is where Railways has an important role.

Basic Requirements for Energy System Transformation: 4Ps  Politics  Policy  Pricing  Partnership (Public – Private) All these are inter linked

Solar Installation at Katra Railway Station

P V Modules on Platform 1 of Katra Railway Station

String inverter at platform no 1 Katra Railway Station

PV Modules of rooftop of Katra Railway Station

11 KV Solar Supply Panel

Suitability of Solar Energy Applications for Railways Solar Power installations at Katra Railway Station indicates suitability Worldwide largest solar photovoltaic systems have been installed at Railway Stations 80% of electricity consumption in for traction usages and about 20% for non-traction usage 80% of rail freight and 60% of passenger traffic to run on electricity by Projected electricity consumption at about 100 billion KWh by

Impact of IEP on Solar Energy Use IEP committee report in 2006 recommended that renewable energy sources generate 20 GW of electricity in Subsequent policy measures, administrative institutional measures and initiative of solar businessmen have prompted the government to set a target of 175 GW by Eight times of original suggestion is considered do- able

Railways Targets 1000 MW in Five Years A target of 1000 MW solar power in next five years Float tenders for at least 200 MW by end of July 2015 Harness solar energy by utilising roof top space through public private partnership Install solar power plants at select railway stations, railway office buildings and level crossing gates under its own funding

Immediate Potential Initial target is to select 200 stations under various railways but all the 6909 stations appropriate for solar architecture Advent of deep cycle high efficiency batteries will store sufficient energy for round-the-clock applications Stations at far away places more suited for such applications

Institutional Arrangements in Railways Production units and trained technical manpower Research and Design Specifications Organisation (RDSO) Consultancy organisation – RITES Training Institutes

Solar Energy Use – The Game Changer Energy efficiency and conservation programme aims at saving 10% electricity consumption by 2032 i.e. 10 billion KWh If half of electricity consumption for non-traction applications in can be supplied through solar energy that will make a saving of another 10 billion KWh of electricity consumption or 10% of projected electricity consumption Combined impact will be a saving of 20% projected electricity consumption in Indian Railways

Solar Energy Use – The Game Changer This can mean a saving of 3% in operational costs, which will be a great competitive differentiator It will also save on GHG emissions at 8mt CO 2 eq from energy efficiency and 8mt CO 2 eq from solar energy use.