Services ⚡ BESS Solutions 🔌 EV Charging 🔋 BMS Design 🤖 AI for Energy
Case Studies 🏭 Industries 🏗️ Construction 🏢 Apartments 🚂 Railways ☀️ Solar & Wind
About Contact Get a Quote
Railways Metro Transit Rajasthan Wayside BESS

Wayside 1.5 MWh BESS
Capturing Metro Regenerative Braking Energy

Metro trains in Jaipur brake regeneratively dozens of times per hour — but most of that captured energy was being burned off as heat in braking resistors because no adjacent train was accelerating to absorb it. TESAS installed a wayside 1.5 MWh BESS to store and redeploy this energy, reducing traction energy cost by 22%.

22%
Traction Energy Reduction
₹60L
Annual Value
1.5 MWh
Wayside BESS
2 MW
Peak Power Rating
99.2%
System Availability
📋 Experience-based case study — reflects our founding team's prior project experience at previous companies, not a TESAS 2026 deployment. TESAS was founded in 2026 by engineers with 22+ years of combined industry expertise.
The Challenge

Regenerative Energy Being Wasted as Heat

Every metro train braking into a station generates 1–3 MWh of recoverable electrical energy per day per station. In standard metro operation, this energy is transferred back to the 750V DC overhead/third-rail supply. If another train isn't accelerating at the same moment, the energy has nowhere to go — and braking resistors dissipate it as heat.

On the Jaipur Metro Green Line (10 stations, 2-minute headways during peak), TESAS's measurement study found that only 42% of regenerative energy was being reused by accelerating trains. The remaining 58% — equivalent to 3,400 kWh per day — was wasted.

At JVVNL's industrial tariff, this represented ₹60 lakh per year of avoidable energy purchase — plus the capital cost of maintaining braking resistors that ran hot 18 hours per day.

Technical Constraints

  • DC traction supply at 750V nominal — BESS must be DC-coupled to third rail
  • Charge/discharge cycles: 400–600 per day — ultra-high cycle life essential
  • Response time: <100 ms to capture braking pulse
  • Trackside space limited to a 10m × 4m equipment room
  • 24/7 unattended operation — zero maintenance intervention between 6-monthly servicing
The Solution

DC-Coupled LTO Wayside BESS with <50 ms Response

TESAS selected Lithium Titanate Oxide (LTO) cells — the only chemistry rated for 400+ daily cycles over 15+ years — for this high-cycle railway application. The 1.5 MWh / 2 MW wayside BESS is DC-coupled directly to the 750V traction bus via a bidirectional DC-DC converter, eliminating the AC inversion losses of grid-scale BESS designs.

Phase 1

DC Bus Measurement Campaign

4 weeks of sub-second power logging on the 750V DC bus at 4 stations — mapped regenerative pulse amplitude, duration, and frequency.

Phase 2

LTO BESS Design & Sizing

1.5 MWh LTO pack (rated for 15,000 cycles), 2 MW bidirectional DC-DC converter, custom TESAS control algorithm for DC bus voltage clamping.

Phase 3

Trackside Civil & Electrical

Track possession shutdowns used for DC bus connections; fire suppression and SCADA integration completed within 48-hour windows.

Phase 4

Commissioning & Integration Test

Live train testing across all headway scenarios — verified braking capture rate increased from 42% to 86% of regenerative energy.

Technical Details

System Specification & Results

ParameterSpecification
Cell ChemistryLTO (Lithium Titanate Oxide)
Energy Capacity1,500 kWh (1.5 MWh)
Peak Power2,000 kW (2 MW)
DC Bus Voltage750V DC traction bus
CouplingDC-DC bidirectional converter
Response Time<50 ms (sub-cycle)
Daily Cycles400–600 partial cycles
Cycle Life Rating15,000+ cycles @ 80% DoD
Expected Lifespan15–20 years (no chemistry replacement)
Footprint8 × 3 m (fits standard equipment room)

Measured Performance (6 months)

Braking Energy Capture Rate86% (from 42%)
Daily Energy Recovered2,950 kWh/day
Traction Energy Bill Reduction22%
Annual Cost Saving₹60 Lakh
Braking Resistor Heat Reduction−58%
System Availability99.2%

Why LTO Over LFP?

Railway wayside BESS undergoes 400–600 partial charge-discharge cycles per day — vs. 1–2 for commercial BESS. LFP rated at 6,000 cycles would last only ~3 years under this duty. LTO rated at 15,000+ cycles delivers >10 years, giving a dramatically better lifecycle cost even at 30% higher upfront cost.

"

"TESAS was the only team that understood the DC traction bus architecture from the outset and proposed LTO for the cycle life reason — not just LFP because it's cheaper. That technical confidence was the main reason we selected them. The 22% energy saving has exceeded the feasibility model."

Chief Electrical Engineer
Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation, Rajasthan
Railway & Transit

Is Your Metro or Railway Wasting Regenerative Energy?

TESAS can conduct a DC bus measurement study on your line and model the wayside BESS savings — typically 18–28% of traction energy cost.