Eco-friendly step by Indian Railways! As the Railway Ministry had decided to install solar power plants on its vacant unused lands, the West Central Railway zone has set up a Solar Power Plant at Bina. The Solar Plant has been set up at Bina in association with BHEL in June 2020. According to the national transporter, this is the first Solar Power Plant on the Indian Railways network to feed Traction Power (OHE) directly. It feeds Traction Energy to 25kV OHE Lines directly. The Solar Plant at Bina is spread over an area over 10 acres. The Solar Plant has 5800 solar modules, mounted on 145 sets of modular mounting structure on 1015 pile foundations.
According to Indian Railways, there are various benefits of solar power plants. This solar plant shall generate electricity which shall be supplied to Indian Railways free of cost. The Solar Plant is expected to generate 1.8 MU of electricity per year. It is also said that the solar plant will be able to save 2,160 Tonnes of Carbon dioxide emission every year. This solar plant is a Proof of Concept (POC) for Indian Railways for realizing the future dream of green Indian Railways by the year 2030.
In the Union Budget 2017-18, the Modi government had announced to feed nearly 7,000 railway stations across the nation, with solar power in the medium term. In the budget, the government had stated that as part of its 1000 Mega Watt solar mission, works will be taken up for 2,000 railway stations. Earlier, the Railway Ministry had said that the use of solar power will accelerate the Indian Railways’ mission to achieve the goal of becoming a Net Zero Carbon Emission rail network. The national transporter, to achieve this, had developed a mega plan for setting up solar power plants of 20 GW capacity by utilizing its vacant land by 2030.