Due to excellent upkeep , very close monitoring of operations of solar power plants & numerous innovative steps taken under Solar Mission-2021-22, the productivity of Solar plants in North Central Railway is registering an upward trajectory.
While NCR generated 81 lakhs unit of energy using solar power during April-December 2020-21, this year 94 lakhs units of energy have been generated using solar power in the same period, an improvement of 16% over last year. Not only it’s a big leap towards a larger goal of environment protection as solar energy is a greener source of energy, it has led to substantial savings in revenue too.
- NCR has achieved a net revenue saving of 3.82 crores using solar power during April-December 2021.
- NCR has a total installed capacity of 11.03 MWp. While 120 kWp has been installed by the Railway, remaining 10882.34 kWpcapacity has been installed by two major Solar Power Developers (SPD) Azure and ReNew on a PPP basis.
- Among the major places where roof top solar plants have been installed are station buildings, workshops, training schools, GM office and DRM office buildings.
- About 8000 tons of reduction in carbon footprints have been achieved by NCR using solar power during April-December.
- An important parameter of performance of solar plants is Capacity utilization factor (CUF). NCR solar panels have shown a CUF of 12.9% during the said period which is considered as an appreciable performance.
- NCR has set an ambitious target for 2021-22 to generate HIGHESTEVER solar energy to the tune of 1.3 Crore units,thereby saving about Rs 5 Crores, i.e. Rs one Crore more than the last year, under the aforesaid ‘Solar Mission – NCR’.
- GM NCR Shri Pramod Kumar has called for adopting a focussed approach for augmenting the share of solar energy in its total non-traction electrical energy consumption.
- Principal Chief Electrical Engineer NCR Shri Satish Kothari, who is at the helm of affairs to promote solar energy informs that utmost importance is being given to maintenance of solar plants. Some of the steps taken are:
- Monitoring of Solar Energy generation is being done for each plant, inverter wise.
- Daily monitoring, instead of monthly, of Energy & CUF% of plants is being done.
- Defective/Decommissioned plants due to roof repairs, inverters, cables, etc have been put right.
- Focused attention for quality cleaning of solar panels.
- Tree trimming in shadow affected zones.
- 25 points Solar Mission ready reckoner in pictorial form issued for education & sensitization of maintenance staff.
- Technical & practical useful educational videos on 25 topics in HINDI have been issued to field supervisors for enhancing their knowledge.
- Solar Diary introduced to SSEs for systematic documentation & focussed monitoring of energy & other important data in a structured manner.
Area wise performance of Railway solar plants during April-December 2021-22:
Prayagraj area:
- Total Installed capacity- 1771KWP.
- Locations: Prayagraj station, Naini station, Prayagraj Chheoki station, Mela shed, GM office, DRM office and Central Hospital.
- Solar energy generated : 1567893 Kwh ( 1460979 Kwh generated in April-December 2020)
- Revenue saved: Rs 5094162
- Reduction in carbon footprints: 1317 tonnes
Kanpur area:
- Total Installed capacity- 875.59 KWP.
- Locations: Kanpur Central, Electric loco shed, Electric training centre, Running rooms, CETA school and hostel, new coaching complex and officers rest house
- Solar energy generated : 731600 Kwh ( 618299 Kwh generated in April-December 2020).
- Revenue saved: Rs 2145127.
- Reduction in carbon footprints: 614.54 tonnes.
Aligarh area:
- Total Installed capacity- 182 KWP.
- Locations: Aligarh junction, Retiring room.
- Solar energy generated : 161 655 Kwh ( 86825 Kwh generated in April-December 2020).
- Revenue saved: Rs 504363.
- Reduction in carbon footprints: 136 tonnes.
Tundla:
- Total Installed capacity- 350 KWP.
- Location: Tundla Junction.
- Solar energy generated : 274338 Kwh ( 218133 Kwh generated in April-December 2020).
- Revenue saved: Rs 850447.
- Reduction in carbon footprints: 230 tonnes.
Jhansi area:
- Total Installed capacity-331.1 KWP.
- Locations: DRM office, Railway Hospital and Electric Loco shed.
- Solar energy generated : 313171 Kwh ( 296674 Kwh generated in April-December 2020).
- Revenue saved: Rs 1033464.
- Reduction in carbon footprints: 263 tonnes.
Agra area:
- Total Installed capacity- 1026.33 KWP.
- Locations: Agra Cantt, Agra Fort station , Railway Hospital, running room, Idgah station, DRM office and sick line.
- Solar energy generated : 778825 Kwh ( 619281 Kwh generated in April-December 2020).
- Revenue saved: Rs 4926790.
- Reduction in carbon footprints: 654 tonnes.
Mathura area:
- Total Installed capacity- 382.94 KWP.
- Locations: Mathura Jn and second entry gate.
- Solar energy generated : 324949 Kwh ( 225239 Kwh generated in April-December 2020).
- Revenue saved: Rs 1361536.
- Reduction in carbon footprints: 273 tonnes.
Future plan for solar installations in NCR:
- Work of installation of Solar Power Plants of 1.86 MWp on roof top, 46.25 MWp on vacant lands near Railway stations (around 185 acres acres) and 249 MWp on vacant lands along the railway tracks (around 1320 acres) falling under Golden Diagonal & Golden Quadrilateral (GD & GQ) over NCR by Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL) has already been planned.
Source: North Central Railway-Press Release | Image Credit: MoR
