Southern Railway generates 16.3 MUs of solar power, saves Rs  6.4 crore

CHENNAI:  The total installed capacity of the Southern Railway’s solar plants has reached 5.06 MW, with work on solar plants that can generate 192 kW being completed from April 2021 to March 2022. The zonal railway generated 5.473 Million Units (MUs) of power in 2021-22, resulting in savings of Rs 2.386 crore in a year. From 2017-18, when solar plants were installed, till this June, 16.309 MUs (kWh) of solar energy were generated, resulting in savings of Rs 6.455 crore, the railways said in a statement on Saturday.

It added that its use of renewable energy is growing, with solar plants being set up across its railway stations and offices. Erection of windmills too has resulted in substantial energy savings. Solar panels have been installed at Chennai Central, MMC Complex, Katpadi, Tambaram, Mambalam, Guindy and Chengalpattu suburban stations, divisional railway managers’ offices in Tiruchy and Madurai, the chief workshop manager’s office at the Trichy Golden Rock Workshop, at level crossing gates in the Nagercoil-Thiruvananthapuram section, and signal and telecom workshops at Podanur, Salem, Namakkal, Tiruppur, Parli, and Lakkiti, among other places.

Chennai Central became Southern Railway’s first station to cover 100% of its daytime energy requirements using solar power. “To enhance solar energy generation, the railway is planning to install solar plants in its vacant land as well as in private land adjacent to traction substations. The energy generated will feed to traction loads which will further result in huge savings,” the statement said.

Windmills have been erected at Kayathar (near Gangai Kondan/Kadambur railway stations) in Thoothukudi. Five windmill plants of 2.1 MW capacity each, were commissioned in January 2019 at a cost of Rs 74 crore. In 2021-22, the energy harnessed from windmills was around 25.686 MUs, resulting in savings of  Rs 14.54 crore, the statement said.