India Creates World's First DC Electric Train Engine With Regenerative Braking, Promises Rs 25 Lakh Saving Per Train

State run BHEL has come up with a first of its kind technology under the ¡®Make in India¡¯ initiative. The PSU has developed India¡¯s first ever electric locomotive with a regenerative braking system through its in-house R&D centre. The locomotive was recently flagged off from the organisation¡¯s plant in Jhansi.

First proposed by the Railway Ministry, the concept involving the energy-efficient regeneration system was put into shape by BHEL in a 5,000 HP WAG-7 electric locomotive. The technology is meant to be an upgrade to the existing dynamic braking system used presently in the locomotives. While the dynamic braking system leads to energy loss in the form of heat while braking, the regenerative braking system avoids this by feeding the energy back to the overhead power lines.

The concept is not new per se, as regenerative braking system is a technology that has since long been appointed in electric vehicles. Only that it is being used in a conventional DC locomotives for the first time ever. A recent PTI report states that the new locos with the regenerative braking tech will add to the railway network¡¯s fleet of conventional electric locomotives.

Regenerative braking system in conventional DC loco has been developed first time in the history of world-wide traction.Indian Railways with BHEL undertook the project of modifying its WAG7 loco.Cost saving due to this Make in India initiative would Rs 25 lakhs per loco per year. pic.twitter.com/bDJndPD0Bx

¡ª Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) February 8, 2019

A tweet by the Ministry of Railways also stresses that the one-of-its-kind braking system in the conventional DC (direct current) locomotive has been produced for the first time in the world. The tweet further mentions that the technology will lead to a cost saving of Rs 25 lakh per locomotive per year.

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Earlier, Indian Railways had announced an impending upgrade to its fleet with an electric locomotive capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 kmph. With a 5400 HP, the electric locomotive boasts of being India¡¯s first aerodynamically-designed locomotive, according to the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW). Then in December, the Railways announced that it had successfully converted a diesel locomotive into an electric one, another world's first, through the Indian Railways¡¯ production unit Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) in Varanasi. The feat was achieved in a record time of 69 days.

(With inputs from PTI)