Railenergy

The RAILENERGY project, targeted to increase energy efficiency of integrated railway systems by investigating and validating solutions ranging from the introduction of innovative traction technologies, components and layouts to the development of rolling stock, operation and infrastructure management strategies delivered a comprehensive catalogue of technical recommendations.

The overall objective of this FP 6 project was to provide technical solutions for cutting energy consumption in railway system, thereby reducing both life cycle cost and CO2 emissions at the same time. The set project target was an overall 6% energy consumption reduction of rail systems by 2020.

In order to combine economic competitiveness with environmental friendliness, railway systems must increase their energy efficiency – not least to sustain the strong political support that rail has received thanks to its ecological advantage. There were three main motivations behind the RAILERGY project for the railway sector:

1. Rising energy costs
2. Energy security & independency
3. Climate protection

The Railenergy project, comprising the different domains: Energy Needs, Energy Management, Infrastructure, Components, Traction and Topologies delivered the four following results:

 1. Contribution to technical standardisation (Technical Recommendation TecRec TecRec Technical Recommendation (bilateral UIC/ UNIFE UNIFE Union of European Railway Industries standard))

TecRec 100_001 “Specification and verification of energy consumption for railway rolling stock”

The Technical Recommendation 100_001 is applicable for the specification and verification of energy consumption railway rolling stock. This method secures directly comparable results by and representing the real operation of a train. The general purpose of this Technical Recommendation is to provide a comparative framework to evaluate energy performance values for train sets or locomotives on a common basis, thereby benchmarking and improving the energy efficiency of all types of rail vehicles. This recommendation is not suitable for comparison with other modes of transportation - or even for comparison between diesel and electric traction - as it only deals with the energy consumption of the vehicle itself. For the same reason this document is not suitable for the evaluation of the carbon foot print of the worldwide transportation system as a whole.

http://www.tecrec-rail.org/100_001

TecRec 400_001 “Technical Specification for a Reversible DC Substation” The publication of this second Technical Recommendation developed is foreseen mid 2011. The standard will cover a complete set of requirement specifications for 1.500V and 3.000V traction converters for a better recovery of braking energy in DC traction systems by reversible DC substations.

 2. Recommendations (Strategic Assessment Reports incl. technical and operational issues and measures)

The Railenergy recommendations have been developed and applied throughout the entire project. The recommendations are built on an approach which consists of three levels: a technical level, an operational level and finally an economic/strategic level. Collected data has been simulated, calculated and evaluated to finally be assessed strategically. In the project 4 specific service types and the energy supply type DC, AC, high-speed, and diesel) were investigated.

 3. Tools for the calculation of energy consumption in a defined railway system

The Railenergy calculator is a web-based decision support tool for the European rail industry to align energy calculations, methodology and increase common understanding sector wide. It is first of all a business to business screening tool for R&D, procurement and upgrade projects. The tool performs analysis and prediction of energy savings, CO2 emissions and simplified life cycle costs. The Railenergy Calculator is NOT a comparison tool between transport modes.

The tool is available on the project website www.railenergy.eu