German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Delhi Metro’s solar plant

New Delhi: German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited's (DMRC) first rooftop solar power plant, installed at Dwarka Sector -21 metro station.

This 500 KWP plant was installed back in 2014 and has been in operation for more than five years and has generated 3.3 Million units power ever since. The plant fulfils nearly 35% of the energy requirement of the station. This plant is an example of Indo – German collaboration in the field of renewable energy. During the visit, Merkel was accompanied by Germany's Food & Agriculture Minister Julia Klockner.

Born out of DMRC-GIZ MoU

Back in October 2012, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by DMRC with GIZ (Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit), a non-profit group of Germany to develop a feasible business model using solar photovoltaic technology for electricity generation and demonstration. GIZ had surveyed DMRC premises and prepared reports for three sample sites which are Yamuna Bank Depot for Inclined Roof, Yamuna Bank metro station for the curved roof, and Dwarka Sector – 21 metro station for flat Roof.

Successful implementation of this pilot project of 500 KWP capacity with the support of 'Solar Energy Corporation of India' (SECI), paved the way for many more solar rooftop installations. As per today, 32.4 MWP of roof-top solar capacity has been commissioned on DMRC premises in Delhi and NCR.

No capital investment by DMRC

This rooftop capacity of 32.4 MWP is spread over 14 metro train depots, 61 metro stations and 3 residential complexes of DMRC. All these are on Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model, where no capital investment has been made by DMRC. The installed capacity of 32.4 MWp will cut down carbon emissions by nearly 34,000 tonnes per year. This solar project is registered under Clean Development Mechanism with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and will earn carbon credits for DMRC.