Friday 6 August 2021

Hydroelectricity gets German trains on track

German railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) has signed a procurement deal for hydroelectric power from Norway.

Starting from 2023, the company will source renewable energy from Statkraft’s hydroelectric power plant in southern Norway.

The project will supply DB with almost 190GWh of green electricity annually over a ten-year period.

Under the contract, enough renewable energy will be delivered to cover the energy needs of the roughly 40,000 trains in Germany every day for almost a week.

The amount of hydroelectric power is forecast to save up to 146,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

The delivery is made possible by the Nordlink North Sea cable, which connects the Norwegian and German power grids since April.

DB said renewable energy already covers more than 61% of the 10TWh of traction power required by DB each year.

DB Chief Executive Officer Richard Lutz said: “DB will be completely climate-neutral by 2040, ten years earlier than previously planned.

“Our ambitious climate protection plans are outstripping supplies of domestically generated renewable power. That makes this a strategically important contract for both partners as well as for climate protection.”