500MW solar projects will be developed on IR’s area

• The Indian Railways is going to allot unoccupied land for 500 megawatts of solar capacity to supply own electricity demand.

The vacant area of Indian Railways will be used for installing photovoltaic stations with a total capacity of 500MW. Within the framework of this plan, a 50-megawatt PV plant is being currently developed on a 300ac area and is scheduled for completion by spring of 2021. A 3MW system has been already deployed at Modern Coach Factory located near the city of Raebareli. The installations are meant to minimize CO2 emission.

The rooftop solar installations will be located on the buildings of IR to feed non traction loads. IR has an ambition to install 200 megawatts of wind and 500 megawatts of PV capacity before 2021-2022. 16 Indian Railways stations are already providing their electricity demands by means of clean power. 

111 megawatts of solar capacity are under development. Railway Energy Management has launched a tender for another 93 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity. Bids for 45-megawatt rooftop PV plants will be accepted starting from the 27th of January. The 154-megawatt pipeline is being planned for deployment.

REMCL has posted a tender for 2 wind and solar hybrid projects. One project will boast a generation capacity of 109 megawatts, 27 megawatts of which will be supplied by solar and the rest – by wind energy. The capacity of the second facility will constitute 140 megawatts, 35 megawatts of which will be provided by solar energy.

Beside the above ventures, Indian Railways is starting 2 projects to supply solar electricity directly to 25-kilovolt traction system. The Bina-based project developed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited is slated for commissioning before the end of the current month. The plant located near Diwana railway station is scheduled to be completed a month later.