Guwahati railway station becomes first in North Eat to be fully solar powered

Solar energy, has traveled a long way from being a romantic idea of the environment lovers, due to its high costs and low efficiency to being a economically viable source of electricity. Also, with emphasis on lower carbon dioxide emissions and sustainable development, the use of solar energy has received much needed emphasis. Thus, it was a great news to see that the Guwahati railway station was fully converted to use only solar power for its need.

It is indeed a proud moment for not only the citizens of Guwahati but also for the whole of the state of Assam, that now the most important station in Assam has gone for solar power. Thus, we can now take pride in the fact that we too are contributing our bit in the fight against climate change and also that we are now coming out of the technological backwardness which is present in our state.

Thus, April 2017, the month in which the project was commissioned is truly a red letter day for the whole of North East in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy. The installation consists of 2,352 solar panels which produce 700 kW of electricity. The project has cost around Rs 6.7 Crores and being funded by Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), the railway PSU responsible for cargo carrying, terminal operations and warehouse operations. It is expected to generate a saving of around Rs 60 lakhs per year and also to cut around 6 lakh kgs of Carbon dioxide emissions. The installation was done by another central PSU namely Central Electronics Limited (CEL), the same PSU which produces the EVMs used in elections.

Another important feature of the plant is that it is grid connected and thus, will be able to take power from the state electricity grid in case of shortage of production for example during rainy and cloudy days.

The solar panels have been mostly installed on the roof of the platforms and as added a new Hi Tech look to the railway station. It has also been reported that it would be among the many projects of the North East Frontier Railway to increase energy efficiency to both bring down costs and help combat climate change. We hope that more such projects to taken up and that they are operated well to achieve the goals set, in order to make the world a more sustainable place to live in.