PKP Energetyka equips 360 substations with PV arrays in Poland

PKP Energetyka, the electricity distributor to the Polish railway network, said it has installed photovoltaic (PV) panels on 360 of its railway substations, generating 2 GWh of electricity annually.

The deployment of the installations was completed in just over 18 months, increasing their number from 15 to 360, or 70% of all the traction substations supplying power to the Polish railways, the company said in a press release on Wednesday.

The project is in line with the energy distributor's strategy to reduce its carbon footprint by 85% by 2030 and to become climate-neutral in terms of direct and indirect emissions. The company has invested PLN 15 million (USD 3.4m/EUR 3.2m) in the systems, whose output of 2 GWh per year is enough to power 1,000 households.

PKP Energetyka's traction substations are located along railway lines converting alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC) and supplying it to trains. The company equipped them with PV roofs so that each substation uses solar energy for its own needs.

PKP Energetyka is one of the largest energy companies in Poland. It supplies electricity and fuel to the railway sector and provides traction maintenance services to the network belonging to railway operator PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe. At the beginning of 2023, its owner, Luxembourg-based investor CVC Capital Partners, signed a preliminary agreement for its sale to PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna for an enterprise value of PLN 5.944 billion.

(PLN 10 = USD 2.27/EUR 2.11)

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