Metro Railway to install Battery Energy Storage System at Central sub-stn of Blue Line
Kolkata: Metro Railway is going to install Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at the Central sub-station of Blue Line which is capable of doing wonders in case of power cuts or grid failure.
It has been designed in a way that the electricity generated with it can be used to haul passenger packed stranded rakes at 30 kilometre per hour speed from mid-tunnel to the next station in case of any power failure or even National Grid Failure. “This is indeed a huge advancement as passenger packed trains won’t have to wait in underground tunnels or on viaducts for restoration of power supply in case of a disruption of power,” Metro Railway stated.
In case of any fire, this new system will be instrumental to play the role of emergency power source for tunnel ventilation, over the Track Exhaust (OTE) and platform ventilation as well as be an emergency power source for anything at any place. Metro Railway authorities are planning to install 7 such BESS of 2 MW each capacity with additional features of Traction Energy Storage System (TESS) in new substations which will be added very soon in Blue Line for betterment of Metro services. “If everything goes as planned, Kolkata Metro is going to be the first Metro in India which will be in possession of BESS by the end of 2024,” Metro official said. Metro Railway engineers have prepared the specification and blue-print to supply 2 MW power generated by this battery from a particular location to any station between Dumdum to Tollygunge of North-South Corridor using a 33 kV ring main system. It has a potential to save the peak hour demand which may help Metro Railway to save Rs 7 crore. Apart from that it will also ensure power factor improvement which in turn saves another Rs 6 crore.
After conducting a pre-bid meeting with these companies, an order was placed through open bidding process to M/s Delta Electronics Private Limited on May 4 to install four MW BESS with 6.4 MWh using Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery as energy storage element.
As per the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage approved by the Union Cabinet in 2021 with budgetary outlay of more than Rs 18,000 crore, this scheme was envisaged in Metro Railway for the first time among all zones of Indian Railways as well as all other Metro systems in India.
