Express News Service
RANCHI: Dhanbad Railway Division is gearing up to become the first in the country to ply trains on solar power. According to railway officials, they have chalked out a plan under which certain portion of the total power load will be shared by solar energy, which ultimately will reduce total running cost of railways. The initiative will be taken up in the 200-kilometer stretch between Pradhan Khunta and Bandhua stations on the Grand Chord line within Dhanbad division.
To make the project possible, power plants will be installed at 17 different locations between the two stations to harness solar energy, for which, land has already been identified. The task of installing solar power plants has been assigned to Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL).
According to senior railway officials, conventional power requirement to run trains can be reduced to a large extent if an additional source of energy is available. “Trains at a speed of 160 km per hour have to be run between Howrah and New Delhi, and efforts are being made to run all of them on solar power in the portion between Bandhua and Pradhan Khunta in Dhanbad division,” said Dhanbad’s divisional railway manager Ashish Bansal.
It has been decided to install solar power plants at 17 locations to harness energy in this particular stretch of nearly 200 kilometers, he added. The DRM, however, said there are some legal issues related to land leasing, which have to be sorted out, and hence, the project is getting delayed.
Railway officials said complete dependency on solar power is not feasible as sunlight would not be available all the time, and hence a system is being developed so that power could be shared between solar and conventional energy.
“Solar power will be used as a support system, under which, certain potion of the total load is shared by solar power, which ultimately will lead to reduction of power bill,” said senior divisional commercial manager Akhilesh Pandey. This is a new technology and possibly is the first such initiative in the country, he claimed.
200 kilometre stretch between Pradhan Khunta and Bandhua stations on the Grand Chord line
17 Number of power plants to be set up
Railway Energy Management Company Limited to erect the plants
