UPMRC to install special inverters in Third Rail System of Kanpur Metro

Kanpur, India (Metro Rail Today) : Kanpur Metro to have special inverter with Third Rail Direct Current (DC) Traction System for energy conservation for the first time in India. Following the concept of ‘Clean Metro, Green Metro’ and the objective of energy conservation, Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (UPMRC) has claimed another innovation, while executing the Kanpur Metro Rail Project.

For the very first time in India, UPMRC has made the provision in the Kanpur Metro Rail Project for installing a special inverter device with the Third Rail DC Traction System to convert the Direct Current  power regenerated through the train’s breaking into Alternate Current and reroute the same to the Metro System for reuse. Kanpur Metro’s trains will have the energy efficiency of about 40-45% which means at the expenditure of every 1000 units, up to 450 units can be regenerated through breaking and be used again with the help of ‘Regenerative Breaking Technology’. No other Metro Project in India, that is running on the Third Rail DC Traction System has such type of arrangement to conserve energy.

 Kumar Keshav (Managing Director  of UPMRC) said,

With the objective of ‘Clean Metro, Green Metro’, we have made innovations for energy conservation while executing our projects. In the Metro Projects operating with AC Traction System in the country, including Lucknow, there is a provision for energy conservation with the technique of 'Regenerative Braking', but no such system is available for the Third Rail DC Traction System. With the help of this innovation, the Kanpur Metro Rail Project will set an example in terms of energy conservation for all other Metro Projects in the country that are operating on the Third Rail Traction System.

The Bangalore, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and Gurgaon Rapid Metro Projects are operating on the Third Rail DC Traction System in the country right now and none of them have any provision to reuse the Direct Current (DC) energy regenerated through train braking. This is because the energy regenerated is in DC form, while the rest of the Metro system runs on AC current. Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) has provided the above-mentioned special inverter for the Traction System in Kanpur, which can convert 750 volts DC current regenerated through braking of train into 33 kV AC current for reuse in the system.