As part of its initiative to use the vast and unoccupied areas to promote renewable energy, a solar plant was installed at Charoda close to a national highway in Bhilai under the Raipur Division of the South East Central Railway (SECR) zone.
“It is the biggest solar plant of Indian Railways. Such projects are aimed towards making the Indian Railways green. Efforts are on towards reducing the carbon footprint by further augmenting the use of renewable energy with setting-up more solar plants in different regions by the Railways,” said Vipin Vaishnav, senior divisional commercial manager, Raipur Railway Division.
The plant is spread across 200 acres and has 1,54,500 solar photovoltaic panels installed. It underwent two trials in May and June. SECR officials said the Railway Board will decide on use of the renewable energy-- whether to feed traction power for Indian Railways or for commercial purposes.
The electricity generated by the solar plant will be supplied to Power Grid Corporation and the same quantum of energy can be utilised by the Railways anywhere across the country from the regional grid depending upon the demand, they added.
The project was assigned to a Chennai-based Sherisha Rooftop Solar SPV that after the completion will operate it for over two-decades. The Railways officials expect the project to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
