Bahnstrom regenerativ

In order to achieve the federal government’s climate protection goals, energy saving and the use of renewable energies are the decisive levers. The transport sector is also an important component in which electrically powered transport (electric vehicles and trains) is increasingly coming into focus. A large part of the traffic volume in rail transport in particular is already powered by electrical energy. As the largest state-owned company, Deutsche Bahn AG is also the sector’s largest consumer of electricity with around 11 billion kilowatt hours per year. Serving this demand with renewable energies has a correspondingly great potential for sustainability improvements.

The IKEM participated in the research project “Analysis and concepts for increasing the proportion of regenerative energy in traction current” carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology together with DB Energie GmbH (DB Netz) and the law firm Becker Büttner Held. The project was funded by the Federal Environment Ministry and worked on from January to October 2011.

The main objective of the study was to develop concepts for a technically and economically sensible integration of renewable energies into the energy supply of DB Energie, taking into account the complex supply situation and the special requirements of the railways. Initially, concepts to increase the share of renewable energies in traction current were developed and the legal framework presented in which they could be implemented in the further development of the applicable law. The concepts were then analyzed and evaluated in terms of technical and economic aspects and their likely future impact on DB Netze and the energy supply in the DB Group.