Alstom’s energy recovery system, Hesop, has begun commercial service in Hamburg, Germany.
Alstom worked with Hamburger Hochbahn AG, the operator of Hamburg’s underground system, to install the Hesop energy converters at a station on the U2 line.
The system captures 99 per cent of trains’ braking energy and then redirects that energy back into the electrical systems of the station and any excess energy goes into the wider grid. The system is designed to increase energy efficiency, and limit energy lost into heat.
“Hesop is one of our responses to operators’ need for increased energy efficiency. We are proud to have introduced the system to Germany. It is an important element of the clean, efficient public transportation of the future, offering unique economic and environmental benefits,” said Jörg Nikutta, managing director of Alstom in Germany and Austria.
Although adopted elsewhere, including on Sydney’s light rail line, the installation in Hamburg is the first time the Hesop system has been provided as a standalone product operating in full conversion mode. It is also the first time that such a system has been installed in Germany.
Manufactured at Alstom’s facilities in Belgium and designed in France, the Hesop system is a reversible power substation which can supply traction voltage to a network and recover braking energy from vehicles. 125 units have been installed around the world, reducing transit systems’ energy use, cutting costs in the number of substations needing to be installed along a route, and finding space efficiencies by reducing the amount of ventilation needed to remove excess heat from underground lines. In Milan, the system has enabled the recovery of more than 20 per cent of energy consumed, 2MWh per day. reducing carbon emissions by 171 tonnes.