Hitachi ABB Power Grids Earns Order from Indian Railways
Hitachi ABB Power Grids, India has bagged orders worth INR 160 crore from the Government of India’s electric locomotive manufacturer, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), and the Central Organization for Rail Electrification (CORE), to power electric freight locomotives for the Indian Railways.
“These orders are a source of immense pride for us at Hitachi ABB Power Grids. They advance our vision of playing a pivotal role in rail electrification in India and enabling improvements in rail safety, capacity and speed,” said N Venu, CEO and Managing Director, Hitachi ABB Power Grids in India. “Such partnerships will help lower our dependence on imported fossil fuel and reduce both fuel costs and carbon emissions for the Indian Railways,” he added.
For CLW, Hitachi ABB Power Grids will deliver traction transformers for one of Indian Railways’ most successful class of locomotives, the WAG 9, which was developed in response to strong growth in the rail freight transportation sector; for CORE, it will supply trackside transformers.
Indian Railways manages the fourth-largest rail network in the world by size. It is aiming to create a future-ready railway system, bringing down logistics costs for industry and supporting the Make-in-India initiative.
This plan aligns with the government’s goal of achieving 100 percent rail electrification by December 2023 and making Indian Railways a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030.
Hitachi ABB Power Grids will deliver trackside transformers rated 132 kV (kilovolt) to CORE and traction transformers rated 25 kV to CLW.
The trackside transformers reduce power voltage from the utility power network to a suitable level before feeding it to the railway catenary conductors.
Traction transformers route power from the catenary for essential train functions such as traction, lighting, ventilation, braking, signaling and communication.
