Dwarka Sector-21 metro station goes green, platform lit up with solar power

It becomes country’s first solar power plant at a metro station

On Monday, Dwarka Sector-21 metro station’s platform number 2 was lit up by energy produced from solar panels placed on the roof of the station. This officially marked the commissioning of the country’s first solar power plant at a metro station. The plant was dedicated to the nation by Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu and Union Minister of State for Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal at Metro Bhavan here. The units generated by the 500 kWp roof top plant will be used for the power requirement of the station itself.

With the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spending nearly 40 to 50 per cent of its operational and maintenance costs on electricity, the solar plant is in keeping with its commitment to look for sustainable solutions for its energy requirements, said DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh. “This is an exhibition of our commitment towards sustainability and putting in place an energy efficient system. Most of our stations are designed in an energy-efficient manner,” he said. Under Phase-III of constructions, the DMRC is in the process of designing its roof structures so that mounting arrangements for solar modules is available from the beginning, he added.

Referring to the DMRC’s commitment to generate 20 MW in the next three years, Mr. Goyal, who also unveiled its ‘solar policy’, said the transport system should look at fast tracking it to within a year. “I urge the DMRC to generate 20 MW within a year and also to not be dependent on subsidies. We should look into fine-tuning this model and scaling it across all metro stations,” he said, adding that the government is already in discussions with the Central Public Works Department to install solar panels on roof tops of Delhi.

Mr. Naidu said the government is committed to promoting renewable energy sources. “We have 365 days of sun and yet we are unable to utilise this efficiently. As we face the challenges of urbanisation, solar energy and renewable energy sources need to be looked into,” he said.

He reiterated his government’s commitment of bringing metro systems to cities in the country with a population of 10 lakh.

Dwarka Sector-21 metro station solar plant is the largest roof top plant in Delhi NCR under the Renewable Energy Service model, under which the DMRC will pay for the units generated by the plant and the capital investment shall be provided by the developer.

The DMRC will now be exploring the possibility of installing more such plants at its stations, depots, parking lots as well as residential complexes.