Page 32 - Innovation in energy management: contribution of railways to sustainable mobility

R.17. Purchase of “Green” electrical energy

Investment: Nature: Improvement:
NP

Related to:

There is no particular energy mix for the railway electricity network, as it is the same as
the electricity demand of the corresponding country. In Spain there is a very distributed
mix, without apreponderance of a specific technology although it has a high percentage
of renewable energy generation.

However, the purchase of “green” electrical energy by the railway companies is a positive
challenge for greater decarbonisation of the railway (in indirect terms). The consumption
of “green” electrical energy means the electricity company guarantees that, with the
money paid by that user, 100% of the energy consumed is produced by renewable
sources.

A good measure to promote the purchase of green energy would be the aggregate
purchase of energy (joint purchase between different railway operators).

R.18. Efficient operation of the railway electrical grid

Investment: Nature: Improvement:

Related to:
R.1 R.19

The efficient operation of the different elements of the railway electricity network is a
challenge that must be met, considering that it does not imply higher costs for
infrastructure managers. As already indicated in the 2016 document, the future
implementation of state-of-the-art electrical networks (intelligent) will help to operate
the network efficiently. In this sense, the sensorisation of all the electrical loads of the
system would allow the adoption of optimal operating instructions, providing data that
can be used for the development of algorithms that help vehicles to operate efficiently (in
line with the challenge R .19).

In the meantime, operating strategies must be identified that enable progress on this
issue. An example of action that has been conducted in recent years is based on the
convenience of operating alternating current traction substations with a single
transformer. The purpose of this measure is to cancel the vacuum losses of one of the two
traction transformers of the substation, leaving it out of service. The increase in load
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Position paper: Innovation in energy management: contribution of railways to sustainable mobility
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