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A pilot project involving a Philadelphia public transit train line was launched Wednesday to demonstrate how the energy generated by trains as they brake can be stored as electricity and fed into the regional electric grid.

 

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) project focuses on regenerative braking, or capturing energy that otherwise would be wasted as heat when the trains brake. Regenerative braking is not entirely new technology – it's been in use in the Toyota Prius hybrid, the all-electric Tesla Roadster and other EVs – but SEPTA says it's a first for public transit.

 

SEPTA isn't doing it alone. Saft is providing the design, manufacture and commissioning of the battery energy storage system and Envitech Energy, an ABB group member, is supplying the power controls, power conversion and system integration. Smart grid technology firm Viridity Energy is providing the software optimization system.

 

Viridity's VPowerâ„¢ optimizer makes possible the simultaneous regenerative capture process, regulation performance and energy market participation by choosing which market to participate in depending on market pricing, battery state of charge and the availability of regenerative power from the trains.

 

What the project brings to SEPTA is increased energy efficiency which means lower costs, and along with other measures, a cleaner, greener operation.

 

The project is funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority.

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