China launched its first railway project integrating renewable energy at the end of September.

The 303-kilometre-long demonstration route is part of the Baoshen Railway, a freight line for very heavy cargo which runs just over 1,000 km from Shenmu in Shaanxi province to Baotou in Inner Mongolia. It serves as a transport line for the Shenfu-Dongsheng coalfield, China’s largest.

The demonstration section is powered by a combination of conventional grid electricity and solar photovoltaic energy, which is regulated and integrated into the railway’s power supply network, its operator CHN Energy noted. The line’s Liujiagou substation, which has a 6-megawatt photovoltaic power generation system, is a key source of the project’s solar energy, reported Xinhua.

The railway project’s power supply network is also equipped with an energy storage system. Excess energy generated from the photovoltaic system or train braking is stored for use during peak demand, the outlet reported.

CHN Energy announced that the project is expected to generate 7.4 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually. It claims the green electricity provided by the project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 5,800 tonnes annually.

China is home to the world’s largest rail transit network, accounting for approximately 2% of the country’s total electricity consumption. By the end of 2024, China had 162,000 kilometers of running railways, nearly 76% of which was electrified, Caixin reported. 

The project comes months after a March government document promoting the integrated development of transportation and energy, which called for “planning for railway electrification” as well as the “promotion of new clean energy power supply models”.

Read Dialogue Earth’s previous analysis of the climate impact of China’s high-speed rail.