INSTALLATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR PANELS

In keeping with the commitments established in their sustainability declaration, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) installed 10.400 photovoltaic cells on the rooftops of the Metrovalencia and the TRAM d’Alacant workshops in 2008.

This action generate 3 million kW annually. The energy produced, which is equivalent to the average consumption of about 1000 Valencian homes, reduce C02 emissions into the environment by 3.500 tonnes.

The 10.400 solar panels cover approximately 18.000 m2 This makes it the largest photovoltaic cell installation on industrial rooftops in the Valencian Community and one of the largest in Spain for public companies.

The Alicante TRAM workshops have 3.600 solar panels and the Line 1 Metrovalencia workshops in Valencia Sud have 2.900 modules. They are the two major renewable energy producers at our company.

The data (power, net surface and nº of panels) for installations on each of the rooftops can be found below:

Rooftops data

Workshop Power Kw Surface Panels
València Sud 580 4.900 2.900
Machado 380 3.100 1.800
Tarongers 313 3.600 2.100
El Campello 600 6.100 3.600
Total 1.873 17.700 10.400

INSTALLATION OF SOLAR THERMAL PANELS FOR DOMESTIC HOT WATER PRODUCTION

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana, as part of the energy consumption reduction objectives of its 2009 environmental programme, undertook the installation of solar thermal panels for the production of domestic hot water at its Valencia-Sud facilities (fixed installations and changing rooms for rolling stock workshop personnel).

The estimated annual energy savings from the installation of these panels is 33,758 kWh.

NEW FIBRE-OPTIC SKYLIGHT SYSTEM

During the summer of 2012, in the workshops of Naranjos and Machado of Metrovalencia, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana finished the installation of a new fibre-optic lighting technology that improves the provision of light to the interior of the work bays and generates significant savings in energy consumption.

It is a passive daylighting system consisting of roof skylights that incorporate an innovative optical system that, through thousands of prisms, refracts, multiplies and improves the distribution of sunlight.

41 skylights have been installed in the Naranjos workshop and 48 have been installed in the Machado workshop.

The estimated savings in lighting are around 35% for both workshops, calculating a final joint saving of 210,518 kWh per year.

OPTIMIZACIÓN DE LAS MARCHAS ATO (AUTOMATIC TRAIN OPERATION) EN METROVALENCIA

The ATO system, which was implemented in Metrovalencia in 2011, is a system that, in combination with the ATP safety system and through the interaction of different equipment installed on the track, in the command and control centre and in the railway units themselves, enables the traction and braking of the trains to be regulated automatically without the intervention of the driver.

This feature offers a number of advantages over manual driving:

  • It improves regularity on metro lines by evening out the travel times of all trains.
  • It enables, by means of the different programmed gears, the use of regulation strategies that improve the punctuality of running trains.
  • It optimizes the acceleration and braking curves of the trains in order to achieve greater energy efficiency in traction energy consumption.
  • It allows trains to always stop at the same point on each platform, which makes it possible to raise the platforms and reduce the space between the platform and the train, improving accessibility.
  • Speed control prevents the maximum track speed from being exceeded, thus preventing the train from undergoing emergency braking caused by the train protection systems.

In 2018, in line with its environmental commitment, Metrovalencia analysed and proceeded to reprogram the setting of the ATO system, so that energy consumption was optimised, obtaining savings in traction energy consumption of over 8% in the UT 4300 traffic, both for 4-car and 5-car trains.