All trains will run with solar energy from October in Raipur, Chattisgarh

Posted by RailRecipe on March 16th, 2021

All Indian railway trains will operate between Raipur Junction and Durg railway station, the capital of Chhattisgarh, with solar energy from October. South East Central Railway is preparing a solar power project in 210 acres at Janjagiri for Rs 310 crore. Columns have been erected for the installation of panels. The work of laying the cable is about to begin. This will generate around 50 MW of power every day. With this, about 120 trains will run, including the passenger and goods train running between Raipur and Durg. This will save the Railways Rs 14.5 crore annually.

This solar plant is being set up by Sun Editions Private Limited Company of Chennai in collaboration with Railway Energy Management Company Limited at Janjagiri Maidan under the Bhilai-Charoda Municipal Corporation area of Durg district. Along with cabling and paneling, the work of inverters and transformers will also be started. Electricity generated from solar energy will be supplied to the railways through the power grid.

Railways pay 5.70 to 6.10 rupees per unit

Currently, the Railways pays Chhattisgarh State Electricity Company Rs 5.70 to Rs 6.10 per unit. Accordingly, two crore rupees a month pays for the Raipur division. With the setting up of this plant, the Railways will save up to Rs. 2.70 per unit. This solar plant is being set up for the next 25 years. Railways have leased their land for this for 27 years. This will save the railways about 14.5 million rupees annually and 360 crore rupees in 25 years.

Solar plant setup like this

27 thousand 600 columns have been prepared for the solar plant. One lakh 54 thousand 560 solar panels will be installed in these columns. A table will be made of ten columns and a panel will be placed. Four inverters will be installed to convert the energy from the solar panel into electricity. These will have three 15.8 MW and one inverter of 2.60 MW. Four transformers will also be installed for the transmission and distribution of electricity. The power grid here will be sent to the potter and supply to the railways from there.

Vipin Vaishnav, Senior DCM, Raipur Rail Division, said that the work on the solar plant is going on very fast. It is expected that production will start in October. We will start the work of laying the cable and installing panels.