Recycling the energy created during braking is not a new concept for subway cars, in fact they have been utilizing this waste energy to power the train or others running on the rails at that moment for years now. But, an estimated 50 to 70 percent of that power still goes to waste. To utilize the lost energy more efficiently, many transit agencies in Philadelphia and other cities across the country are now planning to utilize this waste brake energy and save millions of dollars in energy costs.
subway car
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority is working on harnessing the lost energy by storing it in batteries and putting it back into the system for future use. SEPTA has collaborated with a private company to start a pilot program along one of its train lines that would use a massive battery system to store the produced energy, which could be used on the system later or possibly be put back into the grid. Backed by a $900,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, the project is planned for the Letterly power substation on the Market-Frankford line in Philadelphia's Kensington section. SEPTA hopes to generate $500,000 from a single storage battery.
SEPTA hopes to save up to 10 percent on power costs on a system that takes $22 million a year to power. SEPTA is not the only transit agency that is looking forward to recycling brake energy, the Metropolitan Transit Agency in New York and Los Angeles and Washington agencies are also planning to do the same. The American Public Transit Association is presently studying the potential benefits of wayside storage and the stored energy will be used somewhere other than the rails or the car itself.
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