Greening the Railways: Govt taps Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology
10 Aug 2021
Indian Railways Organisation of Alternative Fuels (IROAF) has invited bids for Hydrogen Fuel Cell based train to be run on Indian Railways network as the ministry gets into a mission mode towards green the Railways.
The bids are invited for the 89km Sonipat-Jind section of Northern Railway. The project will kick off the concept of Hydrogen mobility in the country’s vast rail network.
Initially, 2 DEMU rakes will be converted and later, 2 hybrid locos will be converted based on Hydrogen Fuel cell power movement. The project is expected to lead to saving of Rs2.3 crore annually.
“Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Batteries” and “National Hydrogen Mission” are two flagship programmes of the Government of India aimed at meeting the targets of reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emission under Paris Climate Agreement 2015 and “Mission Net Zero Carbon Emission Railway” by 2030.
Accordingly, there has been recent budgetary pronouncement to kick off the concept of Hydrogen Mobility in the country. Accepting it as a challenge, Indian Railways Organization of Alternate Fuel (IROAF), the green fuel vertical of Indian Railways, has invited bids for Hydrogen Fuel Cell based Train. The project will commence on the 89km Sonipat-Jind section of Northern Railway.
Allocation for the current year is Rs8 crore, The scope of work includes acquiring on-board equipment as per RDSO specification, setting up facility for stationary (on ground) hydrogen storage and filling station at site as per RDSO specification.
As per the tendering processing, two pre-bid conferences are scheduled on 17 August and 9 September. Submission of offer will start after 21 September and the date of tender opening is 5 October 21.