NEW DELHI : Delhi Metro Rail Corporation currently receives 35% of its total energy supply from renewable energy and aims to step it up to 50% by 2031. Apart from installing rooftop solar panels at metro stations and depots and procuring solar energy from an offsite solar plant, DMRC is planning to install vertical solar panels on both sides of the viaducts of elevated corridors. In a similar way, the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) aims to achieve 70% of the total energy requirement of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor through solar power.
According to DMRC officials, around 30% of its renewable energy comes from the offsite share in the Rewa solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh, 4% from rooftop solar panels and 1% from the waste-to-energy plant in Ghazipur.
Though Delhi Metro’s currently installed rooftop solar panels at 142 locations can generate 50 MWp, DMRC is preparing the pilot installation of 100 kWp vertical solar photovoltaic panels on its viaducts. “The main aim is to install vertical solar PV modules on both sides of the viaducts to enhance use of renewable energy for meeting the energy requirements of elevated metro corridors,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communication, DMRC.
Dayal added that after an initial study and evaluation, the Jamia Millia-Okhla Vihar section of the Magenta Line has been identified for the vertical solar project. The installation work is expected to start by August. “Once the pilot installation is completed, efficacies of these systems and the structure and module installation will be tested for wind load due to the natural wind flow, wind pressure and vibrations generated by the operation of the metro trains. This will help validate the design prepared for taking up more such installations,” said Dayal.
In the priority corridors of under-construction Phase IV, all 27 elevated metro stations will be built with infrastructure to accommodate solar panels. The target is 10MW of solar power with the generation of around one crore units of solar energy per year.
In a similar manner, all elevated RRTS stations and depots on the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor will house solar panels. An official of the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which is executing the project, said, “We have identified about 11 MWp solar power potential on the station rooftops. It is estimated that around 10 million units of solar energy will be generated from these panels, which will be used by NCRTC to mostly meet its auxiliary consumption at stations and buildings, etc.”
The official added that NCRTC plans to meet about 70% of the total energy requirement from renewable energy sources. The work of installation of solar panels on the RRTS corridor is under way. NCRTC’s solar power plant, which has been installed on the rooftop of the Ghaziabad receiving sub-station (RSS) with a total of 54 solar panels, has already started generating power. Around 25,000 units of electricity can be generated every year by the solar panels at Ghaziabad RSS.
Source: PTI
