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Showing posts with label IREE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IREE. Show all posts

Thursday, 3 November 2016

07:55

International Conference on Decarbonization of Indian Railways- Mission Electrification begins tomorrow

International Conference on Decarbonization of Indian Railways- Mission Electrification begins tomorrow 
Ministry of Railways through Institution of Railways Electrical Engineer (IREE) in partnership with ASSOCHAM India is organising the International Conference on Decarbonization of Indian Railways- Mission Electrification tomorrow i.e. on 03-11-2016 in New Delhi.  Member Traction, Railway Board Shri Ashwani Kumar Kapoor briefed today about this conference and gave following information:-
· An International Conference on “Decarbonization of Indian Railways – Mission Electrification” isbeing organized in New Delhi on 3rd Nov.’16. 
·  The Conference aims at bringing various stakeholders on a common platform for   exchange of ideas and to deliberate on implementable technological solutions and financing options to significantly increase pace of electrification and achieve the target for setting up of renewable energy installations with total capacity of 1000MW by 2020. 
·The Conference will also project Indian Railways as an attractive investment destination considering its plans for huge investment in next 5 years towards modernization of its electrified network and use of renewable energy.
·  The Conference shall cover aspects relating to policy, technological modernization, mechanization, innovations and financing models for railway electrification and de-carbonization.
·  National Transport Development Policy Committee (NTDPC), in its report, has identified electrification of railway tracks as a means to reduce fuel consumption. The report has recommended for taking up electrification onpriority through systematically tackling the bottlenecks in progress of electrification projects. It has also suggested that electrification should be viewed as a means of making rail transport independent of imported fossil energy, while also provide a choice in sourcing energy. Moreover, electric traction allows regeneration of power while braking/coasting and feeding the network, thereby reducing overall consumption of energy and carbon emissions.
· In this regard, following action has been planned for improving efficiency and bringing in cost economies in freight and passenger operations. Reducing the Carbon Foot prints through use of sustainable and green sources of energy is also a key focus area.
In line with this vision, following action plan has been planned:
Ø  Electrification of Railway Tracks
Currently 28,000 rkm of tracks are electrified (42% of the total network) carrying around two-thirds of total freight traffic and 50% of total passenger traffic. As against 800 kms of average electrification in the earlier years, 1600 rkm of railway tracks were electrified in 2015-’16.
Further, in order to enhance the pace of electrification, following plan has been prepared:
Year
2016-’17
2017-’18
2018-’19
2019-’20
2020-’21
Target for electrification (rkm)
2,000
4,000
6,000
6,200
6,200

To fast track the pace of electrification, Ministry of Railway would be involving PSUs like IRCON, RITES and PGCIL. Increase in the pace of electrification will reduce its fuel bill by Rs. 10,000 cr. annually as against the business as usual approach.
Ø  Harnessing Renewable Energy on IR to reduce energy cost and carbon footprints
-  Indian Railways targets to harness 1 GW solar and 500 MW wind power as announced in Rail Budget 2015-’16,
-   500 MW of solar units on roof tops through Central Finance Assistance (CFA) from MNRE and balance 500 MW on land.
Ø  Introduction of Energy Efficient Rolling Stock
Acquisition/ Introduction of new energy efficient Rolling Stock has been initiated through the following projects
§  Electric Loco Manufacturing Factory at Madhepura in Bihar
    Project awarded to Madhepura Electric Locomotive Private Limited (MELPL), a JV company of Ministry of Railways and Alstom Manufacturing India Limited, to manufacture, supply and maintain the state of art 12,000 HP energy efficient locomotives.
§  Production of Energy Efficient High Horsepower Locomotives
-Last year, CLW achieved highest ever out turn of 280 locomotives, out of which 215 were energy efficient three-phase electric locomotives.
-CLW has completely switched over to production of only energy efficient IGBT based High Horse Power three-phase locomotives from current year and has turned out 122 such locos till Sept.’16.
§  Head On Generation (HOG)
Indian Railways have introduced HOG system wherein the lighting, air-conditioning and other electrical loads of passenger coaches would be fed directly from electric power drawn by locomotive from grid. This system will do away with the requirement of diesel power car for feeding electric supply to coaches and also enable in carrying additional passengers. This system has already been introduced in NDLS-Mumbai Rajdhani Express saving around 3,000 liters of diesel in one round trip.
§  Electrical Multiple Units (EMUs)
All new EMUs produced will be energy efficient with three phase technology having regeneration capability. Around 200 energy efficient rakes have been introduced in Mumbai Suburban area having regenerative braking feature since 2007.
§  Manufacturing of energy efficient electric locos from DLW, Varanasi
In order to meet the increased requirement of electric locomotives resulting from accelerated electrification, it has been decided to manufacture electric locos from DLW, Varanasi also. It is planned to manufacture two locos in the current financial year followed by ten locos next year and there on.
Source:PIBNEWS

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Tuesday, 3 November 2015

22:31

Indian Railways, UNDP to hold Efficient Energy Technology Summit

Indian Railways, UNDP to hold Efficient Energy Technology Summit

New Delhi: Indian Railways said on Monday it will partner with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to organise an international energy efficient technology summit on Friday.

“It is first of its kind initiative that the ministry of railways is partnering with the UNDP to explore the latest energy efficiency solutions and technology that it can reduce energy bills and facilitate sustainable development. The international summit is a step in this direction,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry elaborated that Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has given a lot of emphasis on energy conservations and energy saving programmes which he outlined in the railway budget speech 2015-16.

“On his directions the Indian Railways has been undertaking detailed energy audit which will reveal huge potential for energy saving,” the ministry said.

The summit will facilitate dissemination of information on important advances made in design and delivery of electric traction technologies and other solutions in the rail sector.

During the event, research work of experts from the field of energy efficiency will be presented. On the sidelines of the event, new technologies and innovative solutions to improve energy efficiency in the rail sector will also be showcased by technology leaders.

Also, the summit will provide a platform for policy makers, manufacturers, researchers and other stakeholders to discuss potential energy efficiency solutions and technologies for reducing the railways’ carbon footprint.

Organizers
Ministry of Railways (MoR), Government of India & The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The partnership is supported by The Global Environment Facility and Institution of Railway Electrical Engineers.

The Ministry of Railways is a Ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the country’s rail transport. The ministry also operates the state-owned Indian Railways, to provide rail transport to people at large. Indian Railway (IR) has one of world’s largest rail networks comprising 115,000 km (71,000 mile) of track over a route of 65,436 km (40,660 mile) and 8,495 stations. In 2014-15, IR carried 8.397 billion passengers’ i.e. more than 23 million passengers a day (roughly half were suburban passengers) and 1050.18 million tons of freight. Indian Railways prepares an annual budget to effectively manage the operations distributed in vast network of 17 zones across the nation. There are six production units engaged in manufacturing rolling stock, wheels and axles and other ancillary components to meet IR requirements. In addition, a number of specialized units like the Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), training institutes and corporations have been set up that provide special services. IR is managed by the Railway Board under the Ministry of Railways. The ministry has an objective of improving efficiency and adopting latest technologies in the rail network. In this direction, it has developed the long-term energy efficiency and conservation programme for a greener tomorrow.

The Institution of Railway Electrical Engineers (IREE) is a professional body of Railway Electrical Engineers. It is a technical body under the auspices of the Ministry of Railways, sharing knowledge and experience of various Railway engineers and others connected with Electrical Engineering. The Institution, registered at Nasik in 1995, have been recognized by the Railway Board in the year 1998. The Institution aims to disseminate and share their technical knowledge among Railway officials and industry regarding the available and new technology related to design, construction and maintenance of electrical assets, including energy management portfolio. IREE is adopting various emerging technologies to serve the need of Railway Electrical Engineering.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) partners with governments and people to help build nations and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in more than 170 countries, UNDP offers global perspective and local insight and provides technical assistance, policy advice and development support services using flexible implementation modalities. UNDP has worked in India since 1951 in virtually all areas of human development from democratic governance to poverty eradication to sustainable energy and environmental management. UNDP’s programmes are aligned directly with national priorities and are reviewed and adjusted annually. UNDP in India is committed to promoting low carbon, climate resilient, inclusive development and support the Government of India in meeting national development objectives along with commitments under important multilateral environment agreements. Key areas of intervention are climate change (mitigation and adaptation), sustainable natural resource management (conserving biodiversity and addressing land degradation) and integrated chemical management (phasing out of ozone depleting substances and reducing persistent organic pollutants). UNDP’s partnership with the Ministry of Railways is promoting energy efficiency in the Indian railways, one of the world’s largest railway networks. Since 2009, UNDP has been privileged to support a project with the Ministry aimed at removing key with the barriers that prevent wider adoption of energy efficiency technologies and measures in the railway system.
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Monday, 26 October 2015

11:24

Escorts launches new Rail products

Escorts launches new Rail products

New Delhi: Engineering major Escorts Group’s rail division expects to see a four-fold rise in its annual revenues to ₹1,000 crore by 2020, riding on Indian Railways’ plan to substitute imports of components with locally manufactured products, in line with the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ mission.

Escorts Railway Products said it has launched several new products for the metro and Indian Railway segments.

“We have partnered with the best companies around the world to ‘Make In India’ the new products required for railway transformation as envisioned by the new Railway Minister,” Nikhil Nanda, the Managing Director of Escorts, said in a statement.

The products were lauched at three-day 11th IREE (International Railway Equipment Exhibition) Fair which started today, the statement said.

Escorts has presence in almost all the rolling stock segments of passenger coach, locomotive, wagons, EMUs and metro.

Engineering conglomerate Escorts on Thursday announced launch of an array of new products for Indian Railways and Metro rail projects aimed at reducing imports and ensuring safer travel.

Dipankar Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, Escorts Railway Products (India) said in a statement “Escorts Railway Division is gearing up to the challenge of participating in the transformation of Indian Railways and Metro segment with a strategic mix of new product introduction through both in house innovation and global technology partnerships.”

The new products are automatic door for Metro and high speed train, LHB Alstom coach dampers, heavy duty locomotive dampers, rubber to metal bonded products, friction products like brake pads, and axle-mounted disc brake systems for LHB.

Escorts has been serving the railways market since 1962 and ERP manufactures brake systems, couplers, suspension systems and rubber and friction products, the statement said.

It is also present in the rolling stock segments of passenger coach, locomotive, wagons, EMUs and Metro, the statement added.

In the current fiscal, Escorts’ rail division expects to get ₹250 crore in revenue from the Railways. In 2014-15, the division had clocked revenue of ₹184 crore. Ghosh is a former Indian Railways electrical officer.

The company is also expanding its product portfolio with an eye to supply more components for the Railways as well as Metro systems, including those in Kochi and Lucknow.

High-end tech

Additionally, Escorts is looking at supplying locally manufactured products at a cheaper price to the company from which it obtains technology.

“We are bringing high-end technologies. We were conducting field trials for these products in the past two years. We focussed on components that were not being made in India.

“All of these have a built-in buyback programme….even technology partners are seeing a cost benefit of 30-40 per cent on land costs. I cannot name the companies now, but Germany, Korea and Australia are the countries where we have entered into buy-back programmes,” he said.

Component focus

Ghosh said about 60 per cent of the value of the coaches are accounted for by other components. Axle-mounted disc brakes, bogie-mounted brake systems and door systems for Metros are some of the component areas Escorts has ventured into.

“We are focussing on components such as brake systems for wagons, coaches and locomotives, coupling and suspension systems,” he said.

For now, the company is expanding its existing plant in Faridabad to manufacture components.

“Additionally, the Railways has already invited tenders for brake systems required for running trains at 200 km/hour. This is another area where business will expand,” Ghosh said.

As more and more freight trains from the Railways network shift to the dedicated freight corridor after 2018, a lot of line capacity on the existing network will become free.

This will help the Railways run passenger trains at higher speeds, he added.
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Sunday, 25 October 2015

08:04

Indian Railways to be Big Contributor to ‘Make in India’, says Suresh Prabhu

Indian Railways to be Big Contributor to ‘Make in India’, says Suresh Prabhu

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Wednesday that the Railways will be a significant contributor to the ‘Make in India’ programme through its focus on indigenising production of a host of segments, including state-of-the-art locomotives, high-end equipment and processes, that go into the working of the network.

Inaugurating the 11th edition of the International Rail Conference and International Rail Equipment Exhibition (IREE) 2015, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Railways, Prabhu said that almost 90 per cent of proposals made by him in the Rail Budget have been either implemented or put into fast track.

With Japan as the partner country, the IREE 2015, covering 20,000 sq mtrs, is being attended by 400 exhibitors from 20 countries, including the US, the UK, China, Germany and South Korea in addition to a large contingent from Japan.

Prabhu said that the ministry is determined to break the vicious cycle of low investment and low quality of services, which has enveloped the Railways due to inadequate attention being assigned to the vital sector.

The minister emphasised that the conscious decision to tap institutional sources for meeting the investment requirement of $140 billion for modernisation of the Railways in five years is giving the development process an unprecedented impetus.

“This is also sending the right signals to foreign investors, who are excited about investing in the Railways.” In this regard, Prabhu referred to the excellent response he had received from the Japanese government and the private sector there when he had visited the country last month.

“The Japanese are excited not only about the high-speed train segment alone. The new framework of technology agreement envisages a whole spectrum of partnership in various rail-related segments like manufacturing of electrical locomotives, sharing of cutting-edge technologies, etc.” he added.
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Tuesday, 29 September 2015

09:41

Station development project to attract 20 billion USD: Suresh Prabhu


Station development project to attract 20 billion USD: Suresh Prabhu

New Delhi:  Days after a report that the Prime Minister’s Office had expressed concern over a slow pace of spending by the railways, minister Suresh Prabhu said they’d “far exceed” the capital expenditure target of Rs 8.5 lakh crore set for the five years till 2019, including this financial year’s budget target of a little over Rs 1 lakh crore. Maintaining that funds will not be a problem for completing infrastructural projects for the Railways, the Minister said the capital expenditure for this year will surpass the budget estimates.

The Minister was talking to reporters here on Monday on the 11th edition of International Railway Equipment Exhibition (IREE), scheduled from October 14 to 16 at Pragati Maidan. The IREE is organised by the Railway Ministry and the Confederation of Indian Industry. Prabhu said almost 89 per cent of the budget announcements made by him have been fulfilled.

Suresh Prabhu at a seminar
“We will easily surpass the target. The budget did not talk about the Dedicated Freight Corridor project, the funding for which, Rs 82,000 crore, was recently approved by the cabinet. We have already issued contracts worth Rs 15,000 crore in the six months of the current financial year. The rest will come soon,” he told reporters.

RM declarations
Additional spending would, he said, materialise from two other initiatives by the ministry. One is “using the money from customers like Coal India and Steel Authority of India for rail evacuation projects, for which memorandums of understanding are being signed with state governments and port connectivity projects.”

Prabhu also said he had, in a meeting last week with World Bank chief Mulyani Indrawati, discussed the possibility of creating a $30 billion fund to finance key rail projects. “We will make an announcement at the right time,” he said, refusing to share details but disclosing the Bank would act as anchor investor for creation of the proposed fund.
The minister said additional funding of $15-20 bn would soon materialise from implementation of the government’s plan to award contracts for redevelopment of 400 stations on the Swiss Challenge method, a model of project development under public-private partnership which was recently approved by the cabinet.

He also announced a plan to seek Rs 1.5 lakh crore from Life Insurance Corporation for investments in railway projects with a high rate of return has been approved by the board of the state-owned insurer. “Also, 17 states have given their approval for investments through creation of joint ventures for new line capacity creation projects. Putting all this together, we will exceed the Rs 8.5 lakh crore plan,” he said.

Prabhu also said at least Rs 70,000 crore will come “within the next few months” from award of two contracts — for setting up diesel and electric locomotive factories in Bihar, and supply of 15 electric multiple unit train sets or 315 railcars for improving the speed of Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. Bids for the loco factories were opened by the ministry earlier this month; it is yet to announce the winners.

The Minister announced that the Railways has taken an ambitious programme of electrifying about 10,000 km of railway lines in the next five years. When asked for details of the funding, he said the government will announce it at the appropriate time. “Discussions are still taking place,” he added.

Prabhu said discussions with Japan and South Korea have progressed to build water-less odour-less toilets in trains. He said Google has offered cooperation to set up WiFi connectivity in stations and platforms.
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Tuesday, 4 August 2015

17:56

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu Inaugurates The One-Day Seminar on Solar Energy – Opportunities in Rail Sector

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu Inaugurates The One-Day Seminar on Solar Energy – Opportunities in Rail Sector 

The Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated the one-day Seminar on “Solar Energy – opportunities in Rail Sector”.  This Seminar has been organized by Institution of Railway Electrical Engineers (IREE), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) under the aegis of United Nations Development Programme – Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF). Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital, Member Electrical, Railway Board and Patron IREE, Shri Navin Tandon, Managing Director, DMRC Dr. Mangu Singh, Country Director, UNDP-India Shri Jaco Cilliers other Members of the Railway Board, Shri Sunil Goyal, Chief Electrical Engineer, Northern Railway and General Secretary, IREE, Senior Officials of Ministry of Railways were among those present on the occasion.
          
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railway Shri Suresh Prabhu said that the fossile fuel which is the predominant source of energy has met the energy needs of the human beings in a big way. However, the extensive use of fossile fuel has been causing irreparable damage to eco system leading to climate change and global warming and hence global efforts are being made to work on alternative options and develop a suitable energy mix for meeting crucial energy needs. Shri Suresh Prabhu said that Railway is naturally a green mode of transport – we want to make it further greener by adopting renewal energy as a major source of energy for railways.  Indian Railways is the single biggest consumer of energy and hence it is imperative that Railways must look towards alternative sources of energy.  He pointed out that Indian Railways has targeted large scale harnessing of renewable energy, mainly solar and wind energy as well as adoption of energy efficient measures, to reduce electricity consumption.  The Minister said that it has already been announced in this year’s Railway Budget that Indian Railways will be setting up 1000 MW Solar Plants in next five years and the suitable initiatives for implementing this have been undertaken. Shri Suresh Prabhu said that Railways has already initiated the process of using rooftop of railway buildings for generating solar power. We have also taken innovative initiative for harnessing solar energy by putting solar panels on the roof of railway coaches. Such initiatives are to be taken forward and expanded to make game changer. We are considering developing solar power generation under PPP model.  He said there is a need to work on both solar voltaic cell and solar thermal way of generating solar energy.  There is also need for storage of technology.  The Minister said that Railway should take lead in reducing the carbon footprint and also work to earn more carbon credits. He hoped that the deliberations & presentations will help Railways to come out with a long term policy and road map for harnessing solar energy.
           
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A.K. Mital said that the earth's climate is changing and such climatic change can have major impact on households, businesses, critical infrastructure such as transport, energy etc. We must, therefore, take measures to address the issue of climate change on priority. One of the ways to counter the menace of global warming would be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As we are all aware, in the light of depletion of traditional sources of energy and increasing green house gases emission there is a greater need to focus on the use of renewable sources of energy. Therefore a paradigm shift to meet our energy need is a must, incorporating a judicial mix of power from conventional sources and from renewable technologies. Usage of renewable energy by Indian Railways will provide energy security to the organization. A good strategy would be to evolve its own supporting energy system, consisting of renewal energy sources. There are various renewable energy options for the Indian Railways such as power from wind and solar, and bio fuels.  Wind and solar energies can be the major players to meet Traction and non Traction power requirements of railways.
         
Speaking on the occasion, Member Electrical, Railway Board and Patron, IREE, Shri Navin Tandon said that the challenges before Indian Railway today in achieving the aim of using renewable energy resources include the following (a) There is a need to take up feasibility assessments (b) Identify appropriate technologies, (c) Streamline procedures for utilizing and engaging private sector (d) Develop financing models for large scale solar deployment in Indian Railways, (e) Need to have proper line of credit modality, option of concessional loan mechanism through IRFC/REMC/IREDA, (f) Building capacities,
Shri Tandon further said that the Indian Railways is fully geared up to take up the challenge of ‘Global Warming’. With policy support from the government, Indian Railways will surely bring about positive changes on the energy front and will be a lead organization showing a path of taking care of increasing energy requirement with reduced carbon foot prints and thereby providing solutions towards growth with sustainability. IR due to its wide visibility can act as catalyst in accelerating use of renewal energy across the country & thereby bringing large scale social and environmental changes.

Managing Director, DMRC Dr. Mangu Singh, Country Director, UNDP-India Shri Jaco Cilliers also spoke on the occasion.
Eminent personalities from renowned Institution of Railways, DMRC and Ministries are sharing their experience through their papers in the Seminar.  The seminar has been divided in three technical sessions namely (i) Solar energy – Issue & Option for Rail Sector (ii) Technological Developments & New Trends in Solar System & (iii) Financial & commercial sustainability  - Economic, social & environment aspects of Solar energy in Rail Sector.

More than 300 delegates all over India, Railways, Industries and & other PSUs and Institutions are participating in the seminar.

BACKGROUND BRIEF : -
Indian Railways consumes about 18 billion units of electrical energy per annum for its traction and non-traction applications. Indian Railways, in its endeavour to counter the menace of global warming has targeted large scale harnessing of renewable energy, mainly solar and wind energy, in addition to adoption of energy efficient technologies. Accordingly Hon’ble Minister for Railways in his budget speech had announced a target of installing 1000 mega watt solar power in Railways in next 5 years.

IR has already installed about 21 MW of solar and wind plants. In addition  provision of 10 KWp solar PV modules at 200 stations under various Zonal Railways, provision of 4.05 MWp solar photovoltaic (SPV) at roof top of 21 Railway office buildings and provision of total 1.3 MWp capacity solar photovoltaic plants at 2000 level crossing gates is in progress. Railways are providing Grid / off grid connected solar panels on the Divisional and Zonal headquarters, maintenance depots, sheds and workshops. In this direction Railway have set up a grid connected 1 MW solar power plant at Katra Railway station, which is second largest roof top plant in the country.  Further solar power systems at all major Railway stations and stations of Tourist importance have been planned. The generation of solar supply will help Railways supply power at remote locations and achieve saving on diesel consumption due to reduced running of diesel generators.

In addition Indian Railway had successfully commissioned a 10.5 MW Wind Mill which is supplying power to ICF, Chennai, and plans to take the total capacity of wind mills to more than 150 MW.

Normally for solar units availability of land is an issue; however IR has available land stretches & rooftop spaces on railway buildings, workshops, stations, residential building etc. In addition Railways, can also take up setting up solar power plants on wasteland, empty yards, alongside Railway Tracks, Railway coaches in due course of time.

Investments in solar energy are generally characterized by relatively high up-front capital and low operating costs accordingly there is a need for developing appropriate business models
This seminar can offer unique initiative which will build capacity, explore and identify best technologies, develop financing models for large scale solar deployment in Indian Railways.  
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