Mumbai, June 27 (IANS): In a first for the Indian Railways, the Central Railway (CR) has installed a floating solar power plant of 10MWp capacity in the Igatpuri Lake in Nashik, an official said here on Thursday.

Stepping towards its ultimate goal of zero carbon emission by 2030, the CR has already commissioned 12.05 MWp (MegaWatt peak) solar plants on railway stations' rooftops and buildings, adding 4 MWp last year.

"This has resulted in a saving of Rs 4.62 crore in 2023-2024, plus saving carbon footprints of around 6.95 tons. We plan to install additional 7 MWp solar power plants in the current year," said a CR spokesperson.

Besides 61 MW solar energy, the CR is already tapping 56.4 MW wind energy, and it has signed PPA's to utilize 325 MW solar and wind energy on a 24-hour basis.

This year, the spokesperson added that an additional 180 MW solar and 50 MW wind-power are likely to flow in, and these initiatives are equivalent to saving 2.50 lakh trees.

The CR's current monthly power consumption is 236.92 million units for traction work and 9.7 million units for other non-traction works.

After the commissioning of the above sources of renewables, the CR expects that 70 per cent of its traction energy will be green.