If things go as planned, Western Railway (WR) will soon start generating its own green power. It has finalised setting up of 10.5 MW power through wind energy along the coastal belt of Veraval in Gujarat.
The project is estimated to cost around Rs.7 crore per MW. This project was announced by general manager of Western Railway A.K. Jhingron during his Independence Day speech on Friday.
"Power generation through a non-conventional source was one of the supplementary initiatives proposed by us for approval from the railway board. Soon tenders will be floated for appointing a private party who would create the necessary infrastructure," said Shyam Gupta, chief spokesperson of WR.
WRs total consumption is 500 megawatt of which 375 mw is used for traction operations (train movement) and the remaining is used for lighting for railway offices, residential quarters, etc.
"We have an estimated generation capacity of around 100 MW to 200 MW. Depending on the success of this project we may explore the coastal belt in Maharashtra as well," Gupta added.
The average cost of power generation from this plant will be Rs.3 per unit as against the current power procured from the Gujarat State Electricity Board (GSEB) at Rs.5 per unit. "There is a possibility that the railways will pool in this capacity to the grid and use it for their day-to-day operations or they may also trade it as non-conventional energy earns good revenue for the power generators," said an industry expert.
In Maharashtra, WR procures power from Tata Power Company and MSEDCL. "While Tatas charge us Rs.4.67 per unit, MSEDCL collects Rs.4.80 per unit," Gupta said.
