Page 24 - Innovation in energy management: contribution of railways to sustainable mobility

R.9. Optimise the electrical feeding of auxiliary installations.

Investment: Nature: Improvement:

Related to:

R.4

These auxiliary installations, which are of a diverse nature, are limited to the case of
isolated geographical locations where there is no direct power supply to external
networks or where it does exist, it is not continuous over time (in this case it is usually
switched with another type of system based on conventional generator sets).

The objective is to strategically migrate to sustainable generation systems based on other
energy vectors such as hydrogen fuel cells or conventional batteries. It should be noted
that the use of zero footprint fuels (produced with water and CO2) in conventional
generator sets would also be an option to explore.

On the other hand, this challenge identifies another area referring to the use of the
concept of Energy Harvesting or extraction of Ambient Energy, especially in the case of
reduced electrical consumption (in the case, for example, of new sensors distributed
along the track). Thus, it should be analysed whether the use of the noise and vibration
produced by the train is a feasible option as a source of energy for this type of device.

Triboelectric nanogenerators have recently been developed that can harvest sound and
low-frequency vibrations. In any case, the economic viability of these new systems must
be analysed considering their subsequent maintenance.

It is also worth noting the existence of pilot projects based on the recovery of wind energy
in tunnels, through wind turbines or the use of geothermal energy, and the air
conditioning of traction substations through the groundwater captured in the pump wells
(solutions with interest in underground operations).

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Position paper: Innovation in energy management: contribution of railways to sustainable mobility
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