According to a new study by Indian NGO Climate Trends and UK-based green-tech start-up Riding Sunbeams, direct solar energy supply to Indian railway lines – without the need to connect via the grid – would save nearly 7 million tonnes of carbon per year while also powering at least one in every four trains on the national network.
Indian Railways stated in their annual report for 2019-2020, passenger volume exceeded 8 billion passengers over that period, implying that 2 billion passengers might travel on trains powered entirely by solar energy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently stated, “India’s railway electrification is proceeding rapidly, and that the goal is for Indian Railways to be carbon-neutral by 2030.”
As part of the company’s Net Zero pledge, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has given a direction to Indian Railways to allocate vast swathes of unproductive land for solar development.
Plans are already underway to deliver 20GW of solar generation to match the growing demand for energy to move trains.
As per the new estimate, over a quarter of the new solar power – up to 5,272 MW – may be delivered directly into the railway’s overhead lines rather than being acquired across the electricity networks, resulting in lower energy losses and cost savings for the rail operator.
The researchers discovered that switching from a coal-dominated grid to a private-wire solar grid may reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 6.8 million tonnes per year, or just over Kanpur’s entire yearly emissions.
Riding Sunbeams founder and director of innovation Leo Murray and Director at Climate Trends Aarti Khosla have co-authored the report.
Mr. Murray stated, “Right now India is leading the world on two vital climate frontiers – rail electrification and solar power deployment. Our analysis shows that connecting these two keystone low-carbon technologies in Indian Railways can drive both India’s economic recovery from the Covid pandemic and its efforts to transition off fossil fuels to tackle the climate crisis.”
Mr. Khosla further added in that statement of Mr. Murray, “There has been analysis that converting all diesel locomotives to electric will indeed increase the emissions in the short term, however, this report shows the tremendous opportunity of doing it right the first time, by creating a direct connection of the locomotive system to solar PV installations, meeting more than a quarter of the total demand.”
Director-General, International Solar Alliance, Mr. Ajay Mathur said, “India’s energy and transport sectors contributed more than 65% of India’s overall emissions in 2014, and the country’s ambitious renewable energy targets have put the power sector on a decarbonization pathway. Indian Railways’ goal of net zero emissions by 2030 could see over 8 billion passengers traveling emissions-free every year after that.”
Taking this forward, The Chief Executive Officer, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, Mr. Arunabha Ghosh said, “Building on the ambitious goal for 100% electrification of the Railways, it would be logical to embrace and scale up solar and wind for our railways to reach net-zero emissions by 2030. In the immediate run, the Railways could focus on greening their electrification system and substations. Installing rooftop systems on station buildings and workshops could also result in significant cost savings. In the long term, green hydrogen is another promising option to power the trains.”
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