The Central Railway is on way to install energy-saving LED lights at all its 438 stations by March 2018, and exploit solar and wind power in a big way to cut on electricity bills, an official said here on Saturday.
The Central Railway and Energy Efficiency Services Ltd have signed an agreement wherein the latter will invest Rs 30 crore on the project, CR Spokesperson Sunil Udasi said.
While 250 stations have already switched over from the conventional to LED lighting, the remaining 188 will be provided LED lights by March next, he added.
As for EESL’s investments, the CR will repay it in instalments from savings accruing from lesser energy bills and retaining a part of the amount in five years, making it a win-win situation for both organisations.
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The EESL will replace defective fittings and equipment, due to which annual energy savings are estimated to be 1.4 crore units, saving Rs 13.14 crore in the process. Prioritising energy conservation and reducing energy bills, besides adopting green sources of energy, the Central Railway has already installed 28 solar power generation plants with a total capacity of 924 kWp.
Ten plants are in Mumbai, including at Matunga workshop, nine in Solapur, and three each in Pune, Nagpur, and Bhusawal in Maharashtra. Additionally, wind-cum-solar energy plants have been set up at eight locations with a total capacity of 44 kWp. Independent solar plants have come up at several small stations, level crossings and street lights at 953 locations with a total capacity of 49 kWp.
The plants at Sanpada’s EMU POH Shop and Matunga Workshop, both in Mumbai, have a capacity of 1,000 kWp each and are in various stages of implementation. “Once completed, they are expected to generate around 25 lakh units per annum. Additionally, a total of 11.335 MWp plants at 118 locations of CR are expected to be completed by July 2018 in collaboration with the Railway Energy Management Company Ltd,” Udasi said. This would generate 142 lakh units per annum and help further slash energy bills of Central Railway considerably.
