First set of Solar power plants was launched by Railway minister Piyush Goyal in Delhi at International Conference on Green Initiatives and Railway Electrification. Total capacity of solar power plant is 5 megawatt peak (MWp). It is an ambitious project of Indian railway whose aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of the national transporter.
Railway Solar power plants : Main points to remember
This first set of Solar power plants is the part of National Solar Mission of government under which government and Indian railway has planned to commission 1,000 MWp solar plants all over the nation.
The solar power plants have been installed at the roofs of Hazrat Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Anand Vihar and Delhi railway stations. These plants will be producing 76.5 lakh units of solar power annually and will be able to fulfil 30% electricity requirements of these stations.
The programme will provide dual benefits in terms of money saving as well as it will contribute to the cleaning of environment. Through these Railway Solar power plants railways will be able to save Rs 421.4 lakh annually and CO2 emissions will be reduced by 6,082 tonnes.
The project was started in 2016 under the PPP model at the cost of Rs.37.45 crore. The maintenance of the project for next 25 years will be done by the developer under the PPP model and Railways will have to pay for electricity consumed at Rs 4.14 per unit.
Adding more, Railway minister said that the railways has target of energy consumption reduction by 10 per cent in non-traction operations, which will save about Rs 250 crore annually.
