ECoR Plans To Save Rs 14 Core On Energy Bills By Using Solar

ECoR Plans To Save Rs 14 Core On Energy Bills By Using Solar

To promote the use of green energy and reduce the carbon emissions of Indian railways, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) plans to install 21,826 KWp capacity Solar Plants. These plants will be installed at various Station Buildings, Service Buildings, Residential Buildings, and LC Gates, said the Indian railways in a recent statement.

The said installation will help railways save approximately ₹14 Crores from energy bill and ₹91.41 lakh from carbon credits.

Under this project, East Coast Railway will install Solar Power Plants at 149 Station Buildings, 248 Service Buildings, 6924 Residential Buildings, and at 366 Level Crossing (LC) Gates over its jurisdiction.

Moreover, major station buildings and service buildings like headquarters building, Rail Sadan at Chandrasekharpur, have also been provided with rooftop solar power plants. Level crossing gates at most of the places in ECoR jurisdiction have also been installed with solar or other renewable energy systems.

To this end, the railways has floated tenders for ₹83.79 Crores. This includes rooftop solar power plants and other on-grid renewable energy sources of different capacities in various locations. The railways also released the list of some these projects:

• Brahmapur-Palasa Railway Section at a cost of ₹9.13 cr
• Bhubaneswar-Cuttack-Paradeep-Bhadrak Railway section ₹8.86 cr
• Angul Section ₹9.48 cr
• Headquarters area in Bhubaneswar ₹9.10 cr
• Khurda Road-Puri Section ₹8.74 cr
• Paradeep-Kendujhargarh Railway Section ₹8.10 cr
• Visakhapatnam area ₹7.25 cr
• Visakhapatnam Electric Loco Shed area ₹7.10 cr
• Duvvada-Palasa Line/ Naupada-Gunupur/ Vizianagaram-Rayagada area ₹8.78 cr
• Kottavalasa-Kirandul Rail Line Section ₹7.53 cr

In  a statement East Coast Railway said that it is committed to maximizing the use of solar energy for meeting its energy requirements. This will help in meeting the day-to-day power needs of stations and other service buildings. Apart from being environmentally friendly, this leads to savings in precious expenditure for the railways.

This comes at a time when the Indian Railways has planned to increase the presence of solar power and other sources of renewable power across the country. The ministry has planned to go net zero by 2030. Several Indian railway stations have now witnessed increased deployment of renewable energy across its railway stations.