The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has started utilizing power from a 12 MW waste to energy project set up by the East Delhi Waste Processing Company Limited (EDWPCL) in Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh.

This is the first of a kind initiative where a Metro Rail company in India is receiving power from a waste to energy project. A total of 2 MW capacity will be supplied to the DMRC through this facility.

The power is being used by the Vinod Nagar receiving sub-station of the DMRC. This will fulfill the operational needs of the Pink Line of the Delhi Metro. Power of around 17.5 million units per year will be consumed by the DMRC from this project. The total energy consumed through this arrangement may vary depending on the real-time output of the project.

This project is based on a public-private partnership between the government of Delhi, East Delhi Municipal Corporation, and EDWPCL. The project can process more than 1,500 tons of waste in a day to generate around 12 MW of green energy in an ideal scenario.

The facility will alleviate more than 8 million tons of greenhouse gases throughout the life of the project. It is India’s first Euro norms compliant waste management unit. Through this initiative, the DMRC is supporting the Swachh Bharat Mission by promoting waste management in the country.

Early this year, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had stated that waste to energy projects in the national capital territory (NCT) would be exempt from certain open access and deviation charges for intra-state scheduling purposes from these projects.

Of late, DMRC has been working to reduce its carbon footprint by shifting its focus on renewable energy. The tactical shift to green forms of power is a sigh of relief for Delhi, which is reeling under the menace of pollution.

According to DMRC, it is currently producing 28 MW of solar power from the various rooftop solar installations set up in its stations, depots and residential premises.

In September 2018, the DMRC had tendered 10 MW of grid-connected solar projects on behalf of the Noida Metro Rail Corporation.

Other recent efforts to raise DMRC’s solar capacity include a December 2017 tender issued by the organization for the development of 8 MW of grid-connected rooftop and ground-mounted solar PV projects at various DMRC sites in the national capital. In July 2017, DMRC also tendered a 2.2 MW rooftop solar project to be developed at its premises.

As reported previously by Mercom, Azure Power is already developing a 14 MW rooftop solar project for DMRC and, in April 2017, Rays Power Experts commissioned a 5.5 MW solar rooftop project for the organization.

Image credit: DMRC