Indian railways to setup 10.5 MW Plant in Rajasthan

In a bid to cut down on rising power costs and carbon emissions, Indian Railways is turning to wind power. The behemoth is setting up two wind mill power plants with a target of generating 21 MW wind power by next year. “We have finalised plans for setting up two wind mill power plants in Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu at an estimated cost of Rs. 140 crores. Both the plants will generate a total of 21 MW power,” said a senior Railway Ministry official. The plants will be set up along the coastal belt of Tamil Nadu and in the desert area of Jaisalmer. Each plant would generate 10.5 MW wind power and cost about Rs. 70 crore.

India’s long coastline and vast desert expanses which are endowed with high wind power potentials are best suited for the wind energy generation projects. Besides reducing the electric consumption, the wind power will also earn us carbon credits, said the official. Railways consume 5 billion units of power a year and spend about Rs. 5,500 crore on power bills. “We would supply the power to the grid and it would be adjusted against our power billing,” said the official. Railways are expecting the plants to be operational by next year.