Metro Railway has been constantly thriving hard to reduce carbon footprint by generating power from alternative sources. This initiative has got momentum in recent times. In this context, it is worth mentioning here that installation of rooftop solar power plants at different locations of Metro Railway is the testimony of this initiative.
East-West Metro (Green Line) is a very important transport system of Kolkata. Presently services are running in between Salt Lake Sector V and Sealdah over a stretch of 8.885 Km. The overall operations and maintenance activities of this Corridor are controlled from the Central Park Depot, Salt Lake. Rooftop Solar Power Plants have already been installed over 16000 sq. metre area of the workshop and 3173 sq. metre area area of ETU of Central Park Depot. These plants generate 1.24 Mwp electricity and save Rs. 48 lakhs (approx) per annum.
Apart from this, 0.28 MWp rooftop solar power plants have been installed on the rooftops of two East-West Metro stations i.e. Salt Lake Sector V and Central Park. These environment-friendly solar power plants are scattered over 3566.34 sq. metre area. As a result, Metro Railway has been able to save Rs. 14.50 lakhs (approx) per annum.
This project which has been executed through Public Private Partnership Mode is equipped with all standard protection and safety checks. Metro Railway has provided the rooftop areas whereas the solar power developer has done complete designing, procurement, installation, testing and commissioning work. Solar power developer operates and maintains these plants. This solar power generation system of Metro Railway is being monitored through cloud-based monitoring system. External computers and smart devices analyses plants’ performances with the help of built-in meters and data loggers.
Another rooftop solar power plant of 0.5 Mwp capacity is coming up on the rooftop of Stabling Bay Line Workshop. Here this power plant will be spread over 5112 sq. metre area. Once completed, it will further add to the solar power generation capacity of Metro Railway.
All these plants have been installed as a part of 100 MW peak rooftop solar generation projects for Indian Railways which aims to become ‘Net Zero Carbon Emitter’ by 2030.
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