Energy management is now a global concern, not only to prevent global warming but to save costs on energy, minimize risks and make the ecosystem a better place for plants and animals.
The railway system is one of the industries with high energy use, here today, we would like to discuss the actionable steps towards energy management in the transportation industry and rail system.
Actions focused on efficiency
The technology currently available would allow businesses to make different decisions tailored towards efficiency.
Or example, the implementation of building control systems to optimize consumption – climate, heating, lighting, monitor energy and even assign costs to the purchasing areas included in these facilities.
On the one hand, we find a series of “consumers” who thanks to technology we can manage better, says charity.
On the other hand, we have a series of our own energy generation infrastructures, which places us in a scenario when we talk about energy management and the sustainability of a railway system.
This is borne out of the need to reduce its consumption and energy costs and that, at the same time, needs to increase the resilience and availability of the installation, guaranteeing the best service and comfort for users at all times.
The answer to this new reality, we will find what we know as microgrids or microgrids.
Microgrids, key in the new energy landscape
The Microgrid is an integrated energy system that consists of a group of interconnected Distributed Energy Resources within clearly defined electrical limits that act as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid.
Distributed energy resources can include both traditional fossil fuel generators and renewable energy sources, including storage, working together, says the business pally editor.
With decarbonization, digitization, decentralization, and electrification changing the way of producing, buying, and managing energy, microgrids can play a fundamental role in the new energy landscape.
This is easy since it’s fully optimized, guarantees the reliability of energy of on-site generation assets and reduces energy costs and carbon footprint, indirectly helping to achieve carbon-neutral buildings.
Decision making
With this system, the energy manager has the possibility of making optimization decisions thanks to the management of the microgrid assets and the analysis tools and, thus, can:
Buy energy and negotiate delivery contracts
Manage energy consumption priorities for non-critical facility loads, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, fleet management of electric vehicle chargers, facility lighting control, etc.
Use all practical and profitable means of local production – distributed energy resources – and optimize self-consumption.
Improve the energy flexibility of the installation through an energy storage system with batteries, Techpally.
Prepare your facility to qualify for future energy demand flexibility markets through a commercial aggregator.
Benefit from advanced microgrid control that manages the flexibility of distributed energy resources and reduces energy bills by optimizing rate management.
Of course, to achieve this you must digitize the entire installation.
With special emphasis on the electrical network – low voltage panels, medium voltage cells, emergency generators, UPS, EV chargers, inverters.
As well as on the rest of the building’s manageable loads – air conditioners, boilers, lighting, aerothermal.
The technologies that have to allow a new stage in the efficient and sustainable management of the railway infrastructures of our country are already available.
For example, in the case of ADIF; the Railway Infrastructure Administrator of Spain, important initiatives are already being promoted to develop a system of systems that manages the stations and helps to improve both their operation and their energy efficiency.
Conclusion
New railway infrastructures are now well optimized to save energy and make Railway Station more environmentally friendly.
Making the ecosystem a better place is a global concern, and if energy is well controlled, using less energy to produce greater efforts is the deal now.
