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As part of its resolve to make Indian Railways the world’s largest pollution-free and environment-friendly transport network, North Central Railway (NCR) has set an unprecedented record on the solar energy front. During the first six months (April to September) of the current financial year, North Central Railway has generated a record total of 12.3 million units (kWh) of solar electricity through rooftop solar panels installed at its various stations, administrative buildings, workshops and sheds. The use of this green energy not only helped Railways reduce its dependence on conventional grid power, but also directly resulted in huge revenue savings of ₹7.7 crore in its electricity bills. This achievement is being considered a huge milestone in the direction of realizing the national goal of Indian Railways to become ‘Net Zero Carbon Emitter’ by the year 2030.
The geographical spread of North Central Railway extends to parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. Solar power generation is being done on a large scale throughout the zone in all its three major railway divisions—Prayagraj, Agra and Jhansi:
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Use of stations and platform sheds: High-efficiency solar photovoltaic (PV) panels have been installed on rooftops and platform tin sheds at busy railway stations like Prayagraj Junction, Kanpur Central, Agra Cantt, Veerangana Laxmibai Jhansi, Mathura Junction, Aligarh and Subedarganj.
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Railway Workshops and Loco Sheds: The huge rooftops of Jhansi Workshop, Kanpur Loco Shed, Subedarganj Workshop and Agra Wagon Repair Factories are being utilized 100 per cent for generating solar energy.
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Administrative and residential premises: Grid-connected solar rooftop systems at zonal headquarters (Subedarganj, Prayagraj), Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) offices, railway hospitals and public buildings in railway colonies are functioning at full capacity.
As per the official data released by North Central Railway, the progress recorded in this half year is as follows:
| Description (Parameter) | First half figures (Achievement) |
| total solar electricity produced | 12.3 million units (Million kWh) |
| Total net savings in revenue | ₹7.7 crore |
| Reduction in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions | approximately 10,000+ metric tons |
| Savings from equivalent conventional coal | Saving thousands of tons of fossil fuel |
The solar power produced is being directly used to run fans, LED lights, water coolers, lifts, escalators, computerized ticketing counters and platform display systems at the stations 24 hours a day. This has almost eliminated the need to purchase expensive electricity from the grid during the day.
Most of the solar plants installed by North Central Railway ‘Net Metering’ are connected to the system. Under this, when the power consumption in railway premises is less than the solar production during holidays or during quiet hours of the day, the remaining excess solar energy is automatically fed directly into the grid of the State Power Discoms. The credit of this additional electricity is adjusted in the monthly electricity bills of the Railways, thereby giving double financial benefit to the Railways. Additionally, thanks to automatic solar panel cleaning robots and regular maintenance, the power generation efficiency of the panels has been seen to remain consistent by 15 to 20 percent.
Railway administration is not going to be limited to rooftops only. Under the leadership of General Manager and Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE), North Central Railway, work has now started on a detailed action plan for setting up Mega Ground-Mounted Solar Parks around the vacant unused lands and yards on both sides of the railway track:
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Solar Energy for Traction Power: In future, solar projects are being prepared to connect the 25 KV traction system in collaboration with Railway Energy Management Company Limited (REMCL) to run the electric locomotives of trains (OHE line) directly on solar energy.
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Expansion of new solar capacities: A target has been set to add new rooftop and ground mounted solar panels of more than 5 MW capacity in the second half of the financial year.
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Global message of environmental protection: This innovative experiment by Indian Railways not only reflects India’s commitment to combating climate change globally, but also proves how government departments can save crores of rupees in their public expenditure by adopting modern green technologies.