Achieving energy efficiencies through smart modernisation
Energy consumption and performance are important criteria for operators choosing new trains, but existing rolling stock can also benefit from cost-effective upgrades to reduce the energy bill. Aren Serik, Modernisation Solutions Development Director, and Franz-Jochim Wegner, Asset Life Management Market and Strategic Initiatives Director, explain some of the ways in which Alstom helps its customers to weigh up the pros and cons of investment decisions.
Aren Serik | Modernisation Solutions Development Director
Franz-Jochim Wegner | Asset Life Management Market and Strategic Initiatives Director | Connect with Franz-Jochim on LinkedIn!
Why is reducing energy consumption critical for rail-asset owners in today’s world?
AS: For operators and Alstom customers, the total cost of ownership (TCO) of train operations has risen significantly over the past few years, as a result of rising energy prices. This has led to operators considering how they can optimise their energy costs.
F-JW: Also, operators are trying to improve their environmental performance, and energy consumption obviously contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. And there are also regulatory constraints on CO₂ emissions, with progressively more and more taxes being introduced in some areas, which is pushing our customers to look for energy and emissions reduction solutions.
AS: An additional point is the increasing competition in the rail industry, leading to different operators using the same rail electricity infrastructure. Measuring energy consumption has therefore become important as each operator also needs to know exactly what they are consuming for accurate billing.
What types of energy performance solutions does Alstom offer for existing fleets?
F-JW: As part of our FlexCare Modernise smart modernisation catalogue of over 100 solutions, which was recently updated, we have solutions that improve the main energy consuming subsystems of the train. We have traction upgrades for electrical or diesel traction systems. We have climatic comfort upgrades, for example, heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) CO₂ sensors to better control the HVAC depending on occupancy and the CO₂ levels in the cars. We have lighting upgrade solutions, such as smart LED upgrades, and we have solutions that allow us to measure energy and others for optimising energy consumption while driving, such as the Driver Advisory System (DAS) solutions.
AS: Our solutions are applicable to both electric and diesel trains, so, although we do not develop new diesel-only solutions, we are able to help our customers operating diesel trains to improve their environmental footprint by reducing their diesel consumption. For both electric and diesel trains, we offer these solutions at different stages in the lifetime of the train. For example, in mid-life, when we want to extend the life of a train by 10 to 15 years through a modernisation, we can also use the opportunity to address energy performance alongside any obsolescence issues.
How have Alstom’s energy-saving solutions benefited customers?
AS: For example, our Driver Advisory System (DAS) enables drivers to find the best speed at any given time in a journey to optimise energy consumption. This system has been installed on RENFE’s Madrid-Malaga, Madrid-Valencia high-speed trains in Spain, and it has achieved an 11% energy consumption reduction for the whole fleet. This is a major saving for the customer, every year, for the remaining life of the fleet. When we improve energy consumption, there is no performance reduction, the trains still run on time. The return on investment, or payback time, in this case was 2.5 years, allowing the trains to run for the 15 or 20 remaining years with an improved environmental and economic performance.
Another example is the Netherlands VIRM project, where the customer faced some obsolescence issues in repairing power modules on 174 electric multiple units (EMU). We were able to address those obsolescence issues, propose a life extension for the auxiliary power system with new high-power modules approximately 50 kg lighter than the old ones, and reduce energy consumption in the order of €6 million over the 20 remaining years of fleet lifetime.
How does Alstom support customers to find the right solution?
F-JW: Firstly, the right solution depends on the type of rolling stock. For example, a tramway or a metro will have a different consumption split between the traction side and the HVAC side in comparison to a high-speed train. Then the type of operation, number of kilometres travelled per year, the occupancy of the trains, etc., will also have an impact. So, we are first helping to identify the most interesting areas to reduce energy consumption for each individual customer.
AS: We have developed a return on investment tool that enables us to study the cost, the savings, and thus the return on investment of a solution. Energy costs vary, depending on the country, the type of fleet and the type of mission profile of the operator. We can simulate the return on investment and advise the customer accordingly. We can also compare several scenarios, e.g., whether to change the lighting or improve the HVAC. If the simulation shows that a solution makes sense, we also can install an upgrade on one train before rolling it out to the entire fleet. This tool is definitely very useful in helping our customers with this type of decision-making.
