Kadiyam railway station becomes energy-neutral

Vijayawada: Kadiyam Railway Station (KRS) in Rajahmundry section of Vijayawada Division earned the rare distinction of being the First Energy Neutral station in the entire South Central Railway Zone by meeting all its electrical demands through Solar Energy. This rare feat is accomplished by installation of 10KWp On-Grid Solar power plant on rooftop of building with bi-directional net-metering.

The entire electrical load of the station works on 10KWp solar power plant during the day and excess units generated from the plant are fed to DISCOM (Distribution Companies) through net-metering.

Similarly, during night, the power requirement for the building is taken from DISCOM which will be deducted from energy supplied to DISCOM during day, hence the energy consumption charges paid to DISCOM is zero from Railways.

The solar power plant was procured at a cost of Rs 6.5 lakh. This solar plant is also resulting in reduction of 14.7 tonnes of carbon footprints per annum.

The station is already equipped with all energy efficient electrical equipment like LED lights, BLDC (Brushless DC electric motor) fans, star rated pumps etc to minimize the electrical consumption.

Kadiyam station in Vijayawada Division is declared as Energy Neutral station by Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway, in the presence of AA Phadke, PCEE, SCR last month during annual inspection of Duvvada-Rajahmundry section of Vijayawada Division.

P Srinivas, Divisional Railway Manager, Vijayawada complimented V Venkata Ramana, Sr DEE/M and team for their dedicated hard work and achieving this rare feat. DRM also said that such cost efficient initiatives not only brings down the maintenance cost but also contributes to clean and green environment.