Mysuru: As part of an initiative undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi towards energy conservation; the Central Railway Workshop in Ashokapuram, Mysuru has been given target of installing 500KWp solar systems over the roof of different sections of workshops, measuring about 9347sqm.
The Indian Railways incur an expenditure of about 27percent on energy of their total expenditure. To improve the financial performance, Railway Minister has outlined a road map for reducing use of fossil fuels and switch over to non-conventional energy in a phased manner to reduce carbon footprint. The target is to setup 1000 MW of solar power plants during the next five years apart from other measures to improve energy conservation.
So, as a first step, Railway Board has directed that all railway stations, workshops, diesel sheds, production units and other administrative buildings to install roof top solar photovoltaic system to harness solar energy. Accordingly, Mysore workshop has been given a target of installing 500 KWp solar systems.
Subba Rao, Chief Works Manager, Central Railway Workshop who got transferred couple of days back said “The project will be of “Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) ” basis, with a lease period of 25 years during which a constant tariff/unit will be applicable. A Power Purchase agreement has been signed with the eligible bidder Solkar Enterprises, Mumbai to supply at a tariff of Rs 5.59 per unit whereas Mysuru Central Railway Workshop is paying to CESCOM at Rs 7.92 per unit. The savings will be about Rs 15lakhs in the first year and will go on increasing in the subsequent years. As net metering system is being adapted, the excess power generated will be fed back to the grid. The project will be started on February 20 and is expected to be completed by the end of June. The project, once installed, will cater to about 80 percent of the total power requirement of the workshop. It will not only the reduce cost considerably but also reduce the adverse impact on environment in the long run there by achieving the vision of Prime Minister of “Clean & Green India””.
