Titagarh Wagons Limited has signed a Power Purchase Agreement with Fourth Partner Energy to procure 4.8 MW of solar power for its wagon and steel foundries at Titagarh and its passenger coach and propulsion unit at Uttarpara.
This will effectively replace nearly 25 per cent of its current annual electricity demand with clean energy. All three power plants are expected to be commissioned by January 2021.
Green energy
Prithish Chowdhary, Vice-President at Titagarh, said, “Reducing carbon emissions and switching to green energy is no longer an option but a global imperative. At Titagarh, we want to do our part to ensure our production facilities become more environment friendly. Fourth Partner Energy will solarise our Heavy Engineering division, Titagarh Wagons and Titagarh Steel facilities across West Bengal. Apart from a significant reduction in our carbon footprint, solar power is also much cheaper than grid electricity and is a valuable commercial proposition for manufacturing firms that are energy intensive.”
“We expect to see significant savings on our annual power costs through the use of solar power.”
Karan Chadha, Head, Business Development at Fourth Partner Energy, the Hyderabad based company, said, “These 3 installations will utilise approximately 50,000 sqm of otherwise wasted roof space to drive savings on every unit of electricity for the company. Titagarh will also offset nearly 1.3 lakh tons of carbon over the next 2 decades. Our aim is to enable businesses to achieve their low-carbon goals in a cost-effective manner.”
100% electrification
India is targeting 100 per cent electrification of Railways in 3 years, which will result in a near doubling of electricity demand by the sector. Fourth Partner believes solar will play a crucial role in meeting this.
“We have also partnered with Indian Railways to solarise Jabalpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur stations and the Nagpur Metro Rail,” added Karan.
Fourth Partner Energy has 400 MW operational capacity executed for marquee clients like UltraTech Cement, Walmart, Hindustan Unilever, Coca Cola, Akzo Nobel, Skoda and Schneider amongst others.
Titagarh’s procurement of clean electricity also falls in-line with the government’s vision of a net-zero carbon emission Indian Railways by 2030.
Railways Minister Piyush Goyal recently announced solarising of 960 stations and the government’s plan to procure 33 billion units of clean electricity by 2030.