Railways to harness 1000 MW solar power by 2020

Railways proposes to harness 1000 Mega Watt (MW) solar and 150 MW wind energy by 2020, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

A total of about 50 MW renewable energy capacity has been installed till date, including approximately 11 MW solar power and 37 MW wind power, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said in a written reply.

"In addition, installation of 6.5 MW is in progress and for about 50 MW solar capacities, request for qualification (RFQ) has been issued by zonal railways," he added.

For harnessing renewable energy sources for its requirements, Sinha said the mechanism put in place include signing of memorandum of understanding between Railways and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), finalisation of model bid documents for rooftop solar power plants with the financial support of MNRE.

Based on these model bid documents, zonal railways have floated tender documents for installation of solar rooftop plants at railway premises.

Such renewable energy plants are being put up in Railways in an economical manner to reduce the cost of energy with viable gap funding from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.