Solar powers South Western Railway to save 2 crore in electricity bill

Bengaluru: The South Western Railway (SWR) is one of the zones which has taken giant strides aimed at energy conservation by harnessing solar energy. One of the significant actions taken in this direction has been installation of solar panels at stations, service buildings, LC gates etc. across the zone. This will not only help in meeting power needs of all the stations but also save expenditure of the railways.

The SWR has provided solar panels at 108 railway station roof tops - Hubballi, KSR Bengaluru, Mysuru, Yesvantpur, Hosapete, Gadag and Ballari and 7 service buildings - Rail Soudha, Divisional Railway Manager's Office-Hubballi, Railway Hospital-Hubballi, Divisional Railway Manager's Office-Bengaluru, Parcel Office Bengaluru, Railway Hospital -Bengaluru, Divisional Railway Manager's Office - Mysuru.

The Workshops (Hubballi Workshop-1000 KWp Capacity; Mysuru Workshop-500 KWp Capacity) and Sheds have also been provided with Solar Roof top plants. Solar panels have been provided at Krishnarajapuram Diesel Shed (240 KWp), Hubballi EMD Shed (640 KWp) etc. In addition, 299 Level Crossing gates are provided with Solar Panels.

In the year 2020-21, 100 KWp Solar Panels installed at Rail Soudha has generated 1.008 Lakh Units of energy resulting in a saving of Rs.9.07 Lakh. 320 KWp Solar Panels installed at Hubballi Divisional Railway Manager's Office has generated 3.42 Lakh Units of electricity in the last financial year resulting in a saving of Rs. 11.37 Lakh. The 60 KWp Solar panels at Bengaluru Divisional Railway Manager's Office has generated 78,934 Units of energy during last financial year resulting in a savings of Rs. 2.62 Lakh. From the 100 KWp Solar installation at Mysuru Divisional Railway Manager's Office, 1.51 Lakh Units of energy has been generated during 2020-21 which has resulted in a saving of Rs. 6.08 Lakh.

During the last financial year, 220 KWp Solar Panels at SSS Hubballi station has generated 2.14 Lakh Units of energy, 80 KWp Solar Panels at Yesvantpur has generated 0.99 Lakh Units and 110 KWp Solar Panel at Mysuru Railway Station has generated 1.35 Lakh Units.

The solar electricity generation during last financial year was 49.41 Lakh Units saving in electricity bills to the tune of Rs. 2.09 Crores. In the current financial year, so far, 20.37 Lakh Units of Solar energy has been generated resulting in a saving of Rs 87.17 Lakh. SWR is expanding its solar initiatives and it is proposed to install Solar installations at 20 stations during 2021-22.

The SWR has installed total of 4535 KWp Solar panels at service buildings and major stations so far and is planning to install solar panels at 20 more stations in present financial year.

The team headed by Manoj Mahajan Principal Chief Electrical Engineer, and led by Arvind Malkhede, Divisional Railway Manager, Hubballi, Rahul Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Mysuru and Shyam Singh, Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru in their respective Divisions is working diligently to meet the target.

The South Western Railway, General Manager, Sanjeev Kishore said, "Indian Railways is committed to utilize solar energy for meeting its energy requirements pursuing Mission Solar announced by Central Government. The use of solar power will accelerate the Railways' mission of becoming 'Net Zero Carbon Emission Railway' by 2030."