Central Metro Station operates facilities with Solar Power
Posted on: 07/May/2018 12:03:10 PM
Central Metro is the largest Underground station and acts as a hub connecting to important centers of the city like Koyambedu, Anna Salai and also International Airport of Chennai. It adds another feather to its cap by incorporating solar energy for some of the energy requirements. The Green energy adaptation installed in the Central Metro is the very first of its kind inside the city’s primary transportation connection.
This solar energy will operate some of the secondary units of the station and also for some of the train’s operations. So the Chennai Metro Rail Limited CMRL requested Vendors for installing roof-top solar panels in the entry point of Chennai Central Metro.
Photovoltaic panels with a capacity of around 1MW are installed in either sides of the Poonamalle High Road linked to the entry points of the station. This will work as a trial basis and primarily used for energizing Lights, Escalators, Elevators and for Air-conditioning inside the premises of the metro station. CMRL states the usage of this type of green energy (Natural energy) will reduce some of the expenses related to power capacity and plays a major role in controlling pollution.
Chennai Central has a three-level transit hub connecting two corridors of the Phase-1 section of the station. The upper track will lead to Koyambedu-Poonamalle links from Central whereas the lower tracks will connect central metro to Annasalai-Airport stretch. The third of the hub will directly link to Koyambedu and Airport Metro stations divided according the needs of the Commuters.
A Mumbai-based private Company is signed by CMRL for the contract to install Solar panels in the roof-top of Koyambedu and Alandur Metro Stations with a capacity of 6MW. The rooftop Solar Panels will solve the 90 percent of the power requirements in the station of Chennai Central and the remaining energy will be derived from the usual grids of Power units. The Contractors will have to design, manufacture, Supply of Products and to install the Solar Panels. The testing and maintenance will be expected from the Contractors to commit all the basic requirements of meeting primary energy needs from the clean energy of Sun.
CMRL reported a 1.4 Lakh Square Meters of area in 25 various locations as a part of installing Solar Panels for the Metro Project. These Solar panel installation will save more than Rs 1.12 Crore every year for CMRL.
