Kolkata Metro Deploys India's Maiden Battery Energy Storage System For Efficiency, Passenger Safety

Kolkata: To avoid service disruption due to frequent power outages, Kolkata Metro has commissioned a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) along the underground stretch of its Blue Line to enhance energy efficiency and ensure passenger safety. Notably, Kolkata Metro is the first in the country to introduce the cutting-edge technology.

The 17-km underground stretch of the Blue Line connects Dumdum with Tollygunge. The entire corridor runs 27 km from Dakshineswar to Sahid Khudiram (Birji), with the Dakshineswar-Dumdum and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar-Sahid Khudiram sections being elevated.

The first discussion on this issue started in 2021 at the National Program on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage meeting, and work for the four megawatt BESS started with the approval of the cabinet. The system is powered by a 6.4 MW lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery. The amount of electricity stored in that battery can be taken to the next station at a speed of 55 km/hr. This technology can also provide power to tunnel ventilation and environmental control systems in underground stations. As green batteries are used in it, this system can work continuously for up to 14 years.

The system will also run ventilation during power outages. (ETV Bharat)

Kolkata Metro general manager Subransu Sekhar Mishra said after the successful implementation of the 6.4 MW BESS at the central sub-station, it became the first microgrid system installed at a Metro station in the country, comprising 88 racks, each equipped with an in-built fire suppression system.

"The back-up application will haul passenger-loaded trains in case of any power outage and take the rake to the nearest station for safe evacuation of passengers. Also, the tunnel ventilation control system will continue to function, and commuters will not face suffocation during power outages," he added.

Mishra described the initiative as an initial project following a successful trial conducted a day earlier. "It is a starting phase, and we will slowly proliferate it. In future, we wish to add another power converter component in this BESS so that it can also absorb excess regenerative energy which could not be utilised in the absence of a Metro rake being in the accelerative mode," he added.

This system can work continuously for up to 14 years. (ETV Bharat)

Niranjan Nayak, managing director of Delta Electronics India, which developed the power converter, said, "The BESS is capable of transmitting auxiliary power and running any train in the entire tunnel from Dumdum to Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygaunge)."

"The deployment of BESS will provide energy-efficient power solutions in the Blue Line as part of our commitment to provide critical public infrastructure across India," Nayak added.

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