Rail traffic and Energy Transition: RLI at the KNRBB network meeting

November 2^nd 2016 – The RLI has participated in the network meeting of “Kompetenznetz Rail Berlin-Brandenburg” (KNRBB) for the first time. The RLI has joined this network of 68 international companies and research institutions in September 2016. KNRBB’s goal is to promote the railway sector in the Berlin-Brandenburg region.

For RLI, Oliver Arnhold, Head of the research field “Mobility with Renewable Energy” participated in the meeting in Brandenburg an der Havel. “As a non-profit research institution, we promote the Energy Transition in the sectors power, heat, and transport by applied and contract research,” explains Oliver. “Rail transport in Germany is already electrified for the most part, but there are still heavy Diesel trains that cover light-traffic and short routes which are not electrified yet. Diesel engines are also used in classification yards which cause harmful emissions in urban areas. So there is still work to be done.”

Within the KNRBB network, RLI will share its knowledge on hybrid, battery, fuel cell, and gas engines powered by renewable energy sources. During the network meeting, several research questions emerged:

How can rail yards be powered in a regenerative way by Smart Grids?
Can electric switch engines be charged and operated economically via Smart Grid?
Under which circumstances could non-electrified routes be traveled by fuel cell powered engines?
How could hydrogen be generated in an ecological and economical way?
How can renewable energies be used in rail yards and can they guarantee for a safe power supply of rail infrastructure, such as railroad crossings in remote rural areas?

“We look forward to working on these interesting questions within the network”, summarizes Oliver the outcome of RLI’s first KNRBB meeting.