New Delhi Metro run on solar power
Solar power is all set to power the metro trains in New Delhi, India once again. The New Delhi Metro was built in 1995 in phases, with capital 
investment of more than $2.7 billion. The project was recognised as the first railway project globally for reducing greenhouse gases in 2011. Not only that, the Delhi metro’s regenerative brakes have also saved more than 112 GW of power. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has already installed nine new solar power generation facilities, in the stations and the depot of the Badarpur – Faridabad Metro corridor. Earlier, DMRC was also looking at buying electricity from a 500MW solar facility in Rajasthan. 500 kW solar panels have already been installed on one of its Dwarka station.
“In order to be carbon neutral and insulate itself from electricity price increase which has been about 20% per annum in last five years, DMRC is planning to explore the possibility of purchasing power to meet its entire requirement from a solar developer who will be selected through transparent bidding process,” a DMRC spokesperson said
Now the project is going greener by using solar power to run these trains. Solar power generated from Madhya Pradesh’s 750 MW Solar Power Plant in Rewa will be used to power these metro trains in Delhi. This plant is estimated to be the world’s largest by far. The 750 MW plant will be almost 40% bigger than the biggest solar plants in USA built by First Solar. The plan will also be almost 3x bigger than India’s solar park at Charnaka, Gujarat. Madhya Pradesh will become India’s biggest solar power state, once the project is completed by early 2017. This plant is being be funded by a massive loan from World Bank. Solar Energy Corporation of India in a joint venture with the Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam is constructing the project. Reverse auction will be used to bid for this project. Delhi Metro will buy ~363 million units of power annually from this project, through a PPA with the sellers for 25 years after the project starts commercially.
India is heading aggressively towards solar power. The transport system in India is gradually getting solarized. The AAI (Airport Authority of India) is already thinking of constructing solar power plants at its airports to meet its power requirements, according to the MoU signed between AAI and Solar Energy Corporation of India. The Indian Railways too is considering supplying power to the railways using solar energy. A trial run was conducted on a non-AC coach of the Indian Railway, with solar panels on its rooftop surface.
I think it is a good idea to power the metro trains using solar power. The metro trains have played a vital role in controlling the traffic on roads and have thus saved a lot of air pollution. These trains run the whole day and a huge amount of the country’s electricity could be saved by going solar!
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