KOLKATA, Feb 17: To help commuters safely reach the next station if a coach gets stranded in a tunnel due to a power cut, Kolkata Metro Railway will soon install a battery energy storage system (BESS) at the Central station substation of the 16 km Tollygunge-Dumdum underground stretch, authorities said on Monday.
“In case of a sudden power cut or grid failure, this new system – an amalgamation of inverters and advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries – will be useful to haul passenger-packed rakes at a speed of 30 km/hr from mid-tunnel to the next station,” it added.
Of the entire Blue Line corridor (Dakshineswar-New Garia) covering a distance of 28 km, the Tollygunge-Dumdum underground stretch is 16 km long.
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The new technology, another first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, is aimed at furthering the safety of commuters and improving energy consumption, the statement said.
Instead of waiting in the underground tunnels or on viaducts for restoration of power supply, thousands of passengers can be brought to safety as BESS will immediately be functional during any sudden power outage, it said.
Metro Railway engineers have devised this innovative blueprint to supply 4 MW power generated by this battery pack from a particular location to any station between Dumdum and Tollygunge under the North-South Corridor using a 33 KV system.
“The Railway Board has provided funds for smooth execution of this eco-friendly project which is expected to be fully functional by May,” the statement said.
After commissioning of the BESS at the Central station sub-station, Metro authorities are planning to install seven such BESS having capacity to generate 1 MW each with additional features of traction energy storage system (TESS) in new sub-stations.
“This will be added very soon in the Blue Line for betterment of power back-up services. The system has the potential to save the peak hour demand, which may help Metro Railway to incur an additional expense of Rs 7 crore in its lifetime,” it added.
“This battery may also be used as a storage system at night, and then the stored energy can be used in the daytime during peak hours,” the statement said.
In case of any fire, this new system will be instrumental to play the role of emergency power source for tunnel ventilation, over the track exhaust (OTE), platform ventilation as well as be an emergency power source for anything at any place, it said. (PTI)
