Chennai’s MGR Railway Station gets powered by solar energy
- Chennai Railway station has become the first Indian Railway station that meets the 100% day energy requirement target by solar panels installed on the platform shelters of the station.
- South Central Railway (SCR) zone has adopted the concept of ‘Energy Neutral’ railway stations.
- To become the world’s largest green railway network, Indian Railways is now moving towards “net-zero carbon emission” before the year 2030.
AtmaNirbhar Railways: Solar Energy for self-sufficiency
- Indian Railways already has 220 Megawatt (MW) capacity of RE power, with nearly 3,450 MW capacity in the pipeline.
- The Ministry states that it has a potential of 20 GW of solar power and is planning to utilise its vacant land parcels to set up land-based solar plants for its traction power requirement.
- Indian Railways is installing solar panels on the rooftops of its various stations and service buildings for meeting its non-traction power requirements.
- More than 1000 stations have been covered with solar panels on the rooftop and more are in pipeline
Solar Powered Railway Stations across India
- As per a report by the Ministry of Railways, 111 MW solar capacity has already been installed at rooftops of various stations and administrative buildings by January 2021, such as:
- 3 MW Rooftop Solar plant at Howrah Railway Stations
- 1 MW Rooftop Solar at Katra Railway Stations
- 3 MW Solar Land-Based Project at Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli
- Further, the Indian railways is commissioning multiple solar projects across different Railways zones in India to expand the objective of installing maximum solar-powered stations.