20-MW Wind Energy Project to Supply Power to Indian Metro Project
According to reports, the upcoming Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar metro rail project in India’s western state of Gujarat is likely to have a 20-MW wind power plant dedicated to power its trains, stations, and utilities. This will be the first Metro in India to be powered by renewable energy. The project entails an investment of $2.7 billion (Rs 15,000 crore).
The rail project is being undertaken by Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA), which is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the government of Gujarat.
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The expression of interests (EOI) has been invited from leading companies like Aecom, Atkins, Mott MacDonald, TUV Rheinland (India), Seoul Metro, DB International GmbH, China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, Egis Rail, Dong Myeong E&C India, Structon Consultants, Sejong Corporation, Sambo Engineering, Thai Engineering Consultants Company Limited, URS Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited, etc. for setting up the dedicated wind power farm for the metro project. Two companies will be finalized for design, system integration, evaluation, and project management.
The dedicated wind farm will reduce dependence on fossil fuels and will create an additional revenue source by selling carbon credits. If MEGA manages to get United Nation certification for carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro will become the first in the world to run on ‘green power’ to earn carbon credits.
The project will be completed over a period of seven years and will cover 110 kilometers. The implementation of the project will be done in three phases. The Metro rail is proposed to cover a 44-kilometer route in its first phase. Later, the government also plans to link Dholera with Ahmedabad by the Metro rail.
The expected cost of the dedicated 20-MW wind farm is around $22 million. The high initial cost of the system can be easily overcome by low operating costs because of zero cost of fuel and minimal maintenance and additional revenue generation from the sale of carbon credits.
Image: Leaflet | Wikimedia Commons
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