Indian Railways (IR) is in the process of signing a 500 megawatt (MW) power purchase agreement (PPA) with NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NREL) soon. The railway ministry has appointed Central Railway (CR) as the nodal railway to execute this PPA, CR said in a statement.
This 500 MW power will be connected to the grid and is being generated for 24×7 power supply for running electric locomotives. These renewable energy power projects will be commissioned over the next two years said CR. Of this, 205 MW has been earmarked for running locos in Maharashtra.
These round the clock green energy plants consisting of both solar and wind energy will be set up by NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NREL) at the following locations
- Khavda, Kutch, Gujarat for solar energy and
- Bhuj and Dwarka in Gujarat and at Koppal in Karnataka for wind energy.
Requirement of traction power in Maharashtra for running of various trains is about 450 MW , CR said. Of this, 300 MW requirement is met through thermal power, 56 MW through wind energy plants and the rest through purchases from Indian Energy Exchange.
To reduce dependence on thermal energy, new contracts of solar and wind energy has been awarded as follows-
a. Green Infra Wind Energy Ltd- for 50 MW wind energy.
b. Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Ltd (RUMS)- for 61 MW solar energy and c. IRCON Renewable Power Ltd (IRPL)- for 180 MW solar energy.
These will be operational in next 2 years, CR said, adding that these decisions would enable IR in fulfilling its net zero carbon emission goal by the year 2030.
