In an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint in the city, the western railway has installed five mini windmills along the railway tracks of Khar Road and Naigon railway stations. This mini windmill is a pilot project to be monitored on a trial basis, especially during monsoons.
Western Railway has performed a commendable job to protect the environment as a part of the green energy initiative, and if it proves to be successful, it intends to install more such windmills next to the tracks of all railway stations.
How these mini windmills will work
Western Railway has stationed five vertical pillars with blue and white coloured blades. When a train passes by, these blades will start moving through rotor shafts which are paired with copper plates and other metals for generating electricity. The local trains run at a speed of around 50-100 km per hour, so this generates wind and the wind gusts generated rotate the blades of the windmill, thereby generating electricity from this machine.
These mini windmills can generate electricity between 1 kilowatt to 10 kilowatt. The combined capacity of all five wind turbines can generate up to 2 kilowatts at any time.
The Western railway has already installed solar energy equipment at 97 railway stations and more than 46 office railway buildings. Now, by installing wind turbines widely at all railway stations, it will be used to generate electricity.
