WESTERN RAILWAY’S INITIATIVES TO HARNESS SOLAR ENERGY

Ahmedabad, Western Railway is committed to Indian Railway’s goal of achieving “Net Zero Carbon Emitter” by 2030. Taking forward the commitment of Environment Conservation, Western Railway is taking giant strides in the path towards Green & renewable energy. Western Railway is using solar energy for its power requirements and has taken various steps to increase the use of renewable energy.

According to a press release issued by Public Relations Department of Western Railway, till August-2024, solar panels of 13.08 MWp have been installed at 229 locations (136 stations and 93 service/office buildings/sheds/workshops) in all 6 divisions of Western Railway. This includes 50 locations on Mumbai Central Division, 35 locations on Vadodara Division, 60 locations on Ratlam Division, 16 locations on Ahmedabad Division, 34 locations on Rajkot Division and 34 locations on Bhavnagar Division.

This has also resulted into considerable saving of revenue. This is equivalent to carbon absorption capability of approx. 5.25 lakh trees.

In the last FY 2023-24, solar panels on 6 divisions of Western Railway have generated 12.36 MU (Million Units) of electricity, which is equivalent to reducing carbon foot print of more than 9888 tonnes and resulted in a total saving of Rs 6.43 crore. During current FY 2024-25 (till August),

Solar energy generation of 5.82 MU (Million Units) of electricity, which is equivalent to reducing carbon foot print of over 4655 tonnes and resulted in a total saving of Rs 3.33 crore.

Apart from this, Western Railway has provided solar water heaters, solar street lights, solar panels at LC gates as part of green energy resources. Further, Western Railway is planning to install solar plants at all the buildings to the maximum extent to achieve nation’s mission to reduce carbon footprint.