India increases investment in solar energy construction along the railway

    On February 1, when Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the 2020-21 federal budget in Parliament, India will find that in the 2020 budget, it will allocate 220 billion rupees (about 3.08 billion US dollars) to the power and Solar For My House renewable energy industries. Sitharaman added that while emphasizing the importance of solar energy, India plans to develop large amounts of solar energy along the railway lines on land owned by Indian Railways, because the government's goal is to electrify 27,000 kilometers of railways.

    According to TestPV's statistics, the Indian Railways operates more than 8,000 stations across the length and breadth of the entire subcontinent. It is the largest electricity consuming unit in India, accounting for about 2% of India's energy consumption. In recent years, Indian Railways has been working in various ways to reduce its carbon footprint. In the entire Indian railway network, 16 stations have been declared as green stations, meeting energy demand entirely through solar or wind energy.

    According to Indian Railways, the electricity price paid by Indian Railways is about three to four times the cost of solar power. Therefore, Indian Railways plans to install solar modules on stations and trains. The rooftop solar power generation on top of railway buildings will meet the power demand of non-traction loads such as railway stations, while ground-based photovoltaic power plants will meet both traction and non-traction power demand.

    In February 2018, the Indian Railway Corporation announced that it would tender 5 gigawatts of solar energy to reduce electricity costs.

    In January 2020, the Nandyal-Yerraguntla section of the Southern Central Railway was announced as India’s first solar section, with all 8 stations powered by solar modules.

    Indian Railways plans to purchase more than 1,000 MW of solar energy in 2021-22, of which 500 MW is installed on the roof of railway buildings to meet the non-traction load of railway stations.

    In addition to energy costs, Indian Railways, as an Indian state-owned enterprise, also undertakes the important task of reducing emissions by the Indian government.