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Solar power to make Noida Metro Indias greenest

The 29.7km Noida Metro corridor will be India’s greenest when it becomes operational a little over a year from now with a capacity to generate enough solar power to run not only all 21 stations but also its offices and train depot.Noida Metro has set a target of generating 12MW of solar power daily, its managing director Santosh Yadav said on Tuesday. For that yield, it is installing solar panels on the rooftops of all stations, footbridges, its main office building, the depot and parking lot boundary walls. “We will also apply for a diamond rating for our buildings by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC),” Yadav said. Metro officials estimate the corridor’s total power consumption, excluding the electricity required to run the trains and some other crucial operational facilities, will be less than the 12 MW solar power the corridor collectively generates. If there is a surplus, Metro will route it to the conventional power grid and claim a rebate on its power usage, cutting operational costs.

The project’s environmental initiatives have been taken up under the terms of reference issued by the State-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), which it approached after a direction from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to obtain environmental clearance.Under those guidelines, Noida Metro must also build sound barriers along the entire line, 576 rainwater harvesting pits and plant nearly 18,000 trees.