RRB Practice 23

Solar energy adoption at railway stations and along the railway network has been one of the most visible manifestations of Indian Railways' commitment to sustainable operations and its contribution to India's national targets for renewable energy capacity addition. Indian Railways is one of the largest consumers of electricity in India, with its traction requirements, station operations, workshops, and administrative buildings collectively accounting for a very substantial annual electricity bill and a correspondingly large carbon footprint. The installation of rooftop solar panels on railway station buildings, workshops, administrative offices, and railway colonies has been pursued systematically, with the objective of generating as much of the electricity requirement as possible from solar sources and correspondingly reducing dependence on grid power purchased from state electricity boards. The programme is implemented through a combination of direct investment by Indian Railways in solar panel installation, and the solar-as-a-service model where private solar developers install, own, and maintain the solar systems and sell electricity to Indian Railways at a rate lower than the grid tariff, with no upfront capital expenditure required from the railway. Bikaner station in Rajasthan was among the first major stations to be powered entirely by solar energy, and several hundred stations across the country have followed with rooftop solar installations of varying capacities. The railway workshop at Perambur in Chennai, the Integral Coach Factory, and other major railway production units have installed large solar capacities on their extensive factory roof areas. Solar panels have also been installed on the rooftops of railway coaches — initially to power the LED lighting in coaches, reducing the load on alternators driven by the coach axles and thereby slightly improving train energy efficiency, and in later versions to power fans and other low-power loads. Lineside solar installations, using the land alongside railway tracks where the right-of-way is wider than required for track maintenance, provide an opportunity to generate solar power close to the point of consumption and reduce transmission losses. Indian Railways has signed long-term power purchase agreements with Solar Energy Corporation of India and other agencies for the supply of solar and wind power to the traction overhead system, ensuring that a portion of the electricity driving electric locomotives comes from renewable sources. The Railway Energy Management Company, a joint venture between Rail Vikas Nigam Limited and RITES, is the designated entity for implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across the railway system. The aspiration to become a net zero carbon emitter by 2030 is among the most ambitious sustainability targets set by any large railway in the world, and the expansion of solar and other renewable energy sources is central to achieving this goal alongside the completion of electrification and the retirement of diesel traction.