Indian Railways Aiming For 400 MW PV In FY 2017-18

• In FY 2017-18, Indian Railways is reportedly planning to award 400 MW solar power capacity
• It plans 200 MW rooftop solar and 200 MW ground mounted solar power plants
• SECI is helping Indian Railways develop 150 MW solar power capacity in some Indian states
• 300 MW of solar power capacity is also being planned to come from Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh
• Railway Energy Management Company Ltd (REMCL) will be launching a 62 MW rooftop solar tender soon

Indian Railways plans to award 400 MW of solar power capacity in the current financial year 2017-18. It will be equally divided between rooftop solar and ground mounted solar power capacity. There are also plans to procure 300 MW of solar power capacity from the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park (see Record Low Tariff Of 2.97 INR/kWh In India).

Railway Board Member (Traction) Ghanshyam Singh told ET Energyworld of local business paper The Economic Times (ET) that Indian Railways is planning to install 500 MW of rooftop solar capacity by 2020. This year it will be looking at awarding 200 MW of rooftop solar capacity of which 100 MW will be through public private partnership (PPP).

As of now, Indian Railways has 17 MW of rooftop solar commissioned capacity in the country. In January 2017, Central Electronics Limited (CEL) had invited bids to develop 100 MW solar rooftop capacity for government buildings. This capacity was to come up on office buildings and railway stations of zonal railways in different railway zones/production units (see 100 MW PV Rooftop Tender From CEL).

It is also taking Solar Energy Corporation of India's (SECI) help to develop 150 MW of solar power capacity in the states of Assam, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. Singh further informed that Railway Energy Management Company Ltd (REMCL) will be looking at setting up 50 MW solar power capacity on railway land by 2018. A tender for 62 MW rooftop solar tender will also be floated in a week's time.

By 2020, Indian Railways is planning to have an installed solar power capacity of 1,000 MW and 500 MW that of wind power (see Solar Power For Indian Railways). A recent report by Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) stated that Indian Railways has the potential to achieve 5 GW of solar power capacity by 2025. Of this 3.9 GW can come from utility scale projects and remaining 1.1 GW from rooftop solar projects (see 5 GW Solar By 2025 For Indian Railways).