Direct solar supply could also rapidly cut Railways’ emissions by 6.8 million tonnes CO2 each year–just over the entire annual emissions of Kanpur, says study
Direct supply of solar energy to Indian Railway lines- without grid connection- could save almost seven million tonnes of carbon every year, according to a new study by Indian NGO Climate Trends and UK-based green-tech start-up Riding Sunbeams, where it could also power at least one out of four trains on the national network at competitive prices. The report titled 'Indian Railways Opportunity for Connecting Solar PV Generation' examined net-zero plans of Indian Railways and also presents findings of a study examining the aggregate share of traction load from the national transporter which could be supplied by direct solar photovoltaic arrays. Traction load is the power necessary to move trains in railway networks.
Indian Railways’ net-zero trajectory
Recently, Indian Railways set a target to become the world’s first net-zero emissions railway by 2030. According to the report, if the target is met, it could lead to an annual emission reduction of at least 15 million tonnes of CO2, which could help India meet 5% of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) target.
Railways’ clean transition can be a major source of inspiration for India and the world, said Ajay Mathur, director general, International Solar Alliance (ISA). “Indian Railways’ goal of net zero emissions by 2030 could see over eight billion passengers travelling emissions-free every year after that,” he added.
According to the report, Indian Railways accounts for 4% of India’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The national transporter used 17,682 terawatt-hour electricity, 2,749 billion litres of diesel, and 1,000 tonnes of coal during the financial year 2018-19.
In 2018, the government approved plans for 100% electrification of railways by 2023, which was then pushed ahead to 2030 by the Railways last year. By March 2021, almost 71% of India’s conventional tracks were electrified, making it the third-largest electrified system in the world after Russia and China.
In a move to integrate renewable energy, the national transporter tendered 3 GW of land-based solar in 2020, along with 103 MW of installed wind energy plants. It is also planning to make 51,000 hectares of land available for potentially 20 GW of land-based solar.
Indian Railways is one of the biggest renewable investors. The investment curve of railways in renewable energy has been moving up in the past decade. In 2009, it committed to source 10% of its energy from renewables and in 2015-16 it planned to install 100 MW of solar and 150 MW of wind energy by 2020. Last year, it committed to increase its land-based solar systems by installing 20 GW of solar on vacant land by 2030.
“With abundance of solar resources and low-cost renewable power, Indian Railways can witness significant cost savings and CO2 emission reductions by switching to solar-to-rail. Moreover, it will also be important for India to fast-track the cleaning of the grid to complement the stand-alone solar system to achieve its net-zero target,” said Akshima T Ghate, principal at RMI India.
The report stated that achieving net-zero by 2030 will save $2.3 billion in fuel costs and other savings per year. Additionally, the approved electrification would generate around 20.4 crore man days during construction. Currently, grid-connected solar can generate 115,000 jobs, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). This number could double if it includes off-grid deployments such as direct supply to the rail traction system, the report said.
According to the Indian Railways, its decarbonisation initiatives will make it the first transport organisation to be energy self-sufficient. This means that the Railways’ future energy consumption (estimated to increase from 21 billion KWh to 33 billion KWh by 2030) will rely entirely on renewables, the report stated.
Direct connection of solar PV to meet Railways’ net-zero target
Indian Railways is one of the world’s largest networks, which employs more than a million people. Around 23 million people use it as a mode of transport daily and it also carries 1,160 million tonnes of freight annually, making it India’s largest electricity consumer and third-largest diesel consumer.
Since Indian Railways is the third-largest diesel consumer in India, its plan to be fully electric by 2023 will reduce the consumption of high-speed diesel oil by 2.83 billion litres per year.
The report revealed that the conversion of diesel traction to electric would cause a 32% increase in CO2 emissions initially because of India’s reliance on coal to produce electricity. It said the national transporter would need to either procure its own clean electricity supply from wind and solar generators directly connected to the railway network or establish new grid-connected renewable projects in order to match the traction energy supplied via the electricity grid, to mitigate the emissions.
Indian Railways’ plans are already underway to deliver 20 GW of solar generation to match the growing demand for energy to move trains. The report studied the energy demand of 16 out of 18 railway zones to assess the traction load that could be met with direct solar PV.
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