South Western Railway installs 4600 KWp rooftop solar

The Indian Railways has made some of the most ambitious pledges to decarbonise, starting with the promise to be 100% electric by 2024 and net zero by 2030. While those ambitions are still some way off, progress continues to be steady on the ground. As of January this year, with plans to install solar at nearly 7000 railway stations, Railway authorities said they are already successfully generating around 121.47 MW of solar power through their existing solar rooftop capacity installed in 1,094 railway stations across the country.

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Now, per the new data released, the South Western Railway has installed solar power panels on the rooftop of 120 stations and seven buildings that produces, in a combined form, more than 4,656 KWp of solar energy.

Moreover, the South Western Railway has also installed rooftop solar panels at the workshops and the railway sheds that lie in the zone. Krishnarajapuram Diesel Shed and Hubballi EMD Shed are the latest additions in the list. Also, 295 Level Crossing Gates of the zone have been solarised.

The data shows that in financial year 2021-22, the zonal railways had produced mover 46 lakh units of solar energy which helped to save the electricity bills worth Rs 1.96 crore. In the South Western Railway, SSS Hubballi railway station

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It is estimated that approximately 70% of the electricity requirement of SSS Hubballi railway station during fiscal 2021-22 met through solar energy. The railways informed that Hubballi workshop’s 83% electricity is being met from solar panels. Similarly, 60% of Hubballi EMD shed need is met with solar power that produces more than 1.13 lakh every year.

A close analysis of different cities in the South Western Railways would disclose that substantial savings have been made by the railways in terms of electricity use. In the last fiscal alone, Rail Soudha installed solar panels of 250 KWp producing over 2.75 lakh units of electricity. Bengaluru DRM Office has installed 80 KWp of rooftop solar generating over 94,000 units of power.

Similarly, Mysuru DRM Office has produced 5.11 lakh units of energy from its 100 KWp rooftop solar. Hubballi DRM Office too generated over 84,000 units by installing 320 KWp of solar panels.