The RE-USE LIFE + Project

Description

The RE-USE Project (Ref. LIFE11 ENV/FR/000756) aims at reducing CO2 emissions of urban guided systems through the full recovery of metro trains’ braking energy.

Jointly with ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi), the operator of the Milan metro, Alstom has initiated the development of a new 1,500 V version of its Hesop energy-saving technology for metro lines and suburban trains that are high energy consumers.

This project has been selected by the LIFE+ programme of the European Commission whose objective is to promote environmentally-friendly actions.

Hesop 1,500V entered into service in September 2017 in the existing Rogoredo substation of the Milan metro Line 3. This prototype is now being tested under real operating conditions to validate the project objectives in terms of energy savings and environmental impact.

Objectives:

• 15% reduction in train energy consumption by recovering all the electrical braking energy while maintaining priority to natural energy exchange between trains;
• 15% reduction in CO2 emissions.

Results:

Since it was commissioned, Hesop has recovered more than 20% of the energy consumed – i.e., 2 MWh per day, leading to a reduction of 171 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.