Indian Railways Erect Wind Turbine to Save Energy Costs

The Indian Railways, owned by the government of India, is said to be on the green energy path with great deal of initiatives in implementing renewable energy technologies. It has introduced electric engines with the latest power saving technology and diesel locomotives that can run on bio-diesel. The government owned department also purchases three-star rated electric products to conserve energy.

The department has recently erected a 10.5 MW wind turbine at its coach building factory located in Tirunelveli, a town in Tamil Nadu, India. The 350 new locos put into service by the department recently feature regeneration energy technology to save 8%-10% of energy spent by deploying the braking energy. Its introduction of double stack containers in some of its locations has helped the department to save over 45% energy consumed by normal containers. The s installation of energy saving devices in diesel run engines has resulted in nearly 20% savings on fuel.

According to an official in the department, the introduction of regenerative braking facility in the suburban trains run by the department in Mumbai alone will save over 1.03 crore rupees per rake every year. The department is also saving over 25 to 30% on its spending by acquiring and implementing third generation technologies in its suburban trains.