The UIC Workshop dedicated to Energy Recovery was held in Madrid on Tuesday 29 September at the Spanish Railway Foundation Headquarters in the Palace of Fernán Núñez in Madrid. More than 15 speakers presented the latest research, best practices and developments on energy recovery to over 50 participants attending the event.
The workshop, opened by Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of Fundamental Values of UIC, was divided into four panels with an initial one dedicated to introducing the framework on standards and potential savings measured using energy metre systems. The following panels included the main developments in the fields of infrastructure, rolling stock and operations (driving and communications between the rail sub-systems).
Managers, advisors and professional specialists from rail operators, infrastructure managers, manufacturers, universities and consulting companies received the latest data, experiences, and best practices on energy recovery in the railways. Flywheels, reversible substations, DAS, batteries, and smart grids, connected to the Merlin Project, were some of the main topics presented. The workshop also included the comparison of recovery technologies of rail to other types of transport such as cars and tramways.
The workshop ended with two technical visits to specialist facilities. The first one, to the Renfe training centre for drivers, showed how regenerative braking and speed management, depending on the profile of the line, are included in the software used in the driving simulators. The participants had the opportunity to test the simulators and to check the energy consumptions during a driving exercise with the Renfe trainers.
The second technical visit to the Metro de Madrid charging point for electric cars enabled the participants to learn about the latest project on charging points for electric vehicles using the energy produced during the braking of the Metro vehicles. In addition, the participants had the opportunity to discuss charging a hybrid car used as taxi with the representative of Metro de Madrid involved in the development of the project and a user of this point.
Energy recovery is a technology implemented in the railways for more than 30 years which has relevant energy savings. Implementation of regenerative braking in the rolling stock is widely deployed in the current fleet of rail operators and tools such as metering, DAS and Smart Grids can increase the efficient use of regenerated energy.
All presentations from the workshop are available at the following link:
