A system approach to harnessing wind energy in a railway infrastructure

Abstract

This paper focuses on a system approach aimed at harnessing the wind potential in a railway infrastructure. The key aspect of the proposed system lies in using the mass of air displaced during the movement of a train along a railway track to produce electrical energy. Through the use of techniques based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations, the optimal location of the mini Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) has been chosen, taking into account the speed of the train, the railway sections without obstacles and the speed and direction of the wind. The proposed conversion system to integrate the system consists of a low voltage AC/DC stage and a DC/DC stabilization stage per wind generator, and an isolation stage based on a Solid State Transformer (SST), which connects all the generators and allows to inject the energy generated to the medium voltage DC catenary.