General lines of action
Our objectives in emerging countries
The aim of our action is to support the efforts of the Ministries of Transport and Energy to initiate the production of “green” electricity (from solar and wind power plants) in order to contribute to the promotion of the electrification of urban and suburban rail networks first and then of urban public transport axes.
The production of “green” energy can also be used to supply the general network. The goal is to support emerging countries in developing methodologies for the production of low-carbon energy that will eventually make these countries energy independent.
However, the limited investment resources often available in emerging countries remain a penalizing factor that must be constantly taken into account, for example by defining realistic action schedules compatible with the available annual budgets.
In addition to the energy aspects, the entire transport chain must be considered, so that the populations concerned can have more efficient means of travel in their daily lives. Our firm will also provide support to help achieve this goal.
Know-how in the face of local difficulties
Some countries have little experience in managing high-powered solar power generation devices, nor do they have specialists in maintaining electric rail vehicles. A transfer of know-how accompanied by the training of local specialists is therefore often necessary
Proposal of action plans
A typical action plan consists of the following elements:
- Analysis of the compatibility of the existing rolling stock with an operation using decarbonized traction vehicles, if necessary search on the market for second-hand rolling stock, of recent construction, compatible with the objectives pursued, possibly reconditioned, able to meet the planned needs
- Sizing of the traction energy supply facilities by green energy, corresponding to the operating needs
- If necessary, dimensioning of the components related to the contact line
- Sizing of photovoltaic devices for the production of traction energy and/or decarbonized industrial power
- Development of carbon balances of a decarbonized railway operation for the issuance of CO2 reduction certificates and/or direct investment models for foreign investors
- Support for the training of local personnel, be it at the level of operation, maintenance and systemic management
- Support for the optimization of rail operations with an emphasis on multi-modal feeder rail lines
Case study in Cuba
Given the cost of importing energy sources into Cuba, our firm initially set out to study several fuel production channels based on different local resources (ethanol produced from sugarcane, biogas produced from public landfill sites, used cooking oil from the hotel industry, etc.).
Two solar photovoltaic power plant projects are currently being studied, one for a 1MWp peak power plant to reinforce the national grid at a location to be defined with the Ministry of Foreign Investment and Cooperation (MINCEX) and the Electricity Union (UNE), the other for a 300,000 kWp power plant in Hershey, under the supervision of the Union of Cuban Railways (UFC), to generate electricity for needy families in the municipality of Santa Cruz del Norte, and to power the railway workshop adjacent to the plant.
Due to the rapid development of electrification technologies, we have advocated these instead of plant-based fuel production.
In close collaboration with the Union of Cuban Railways (UFC), the Cuban Ministry of Transport (MITRANS), the Ministry of Finance (MEP), the Ministry of Cooperation (MINCEX) and the Ministry of the Environment (CITMA), our firm has carried out an in-depth analysis of the so-called “Hershey” network, mainly linking Havana to Matanzas, which is the only group of electrified lines in Cuba, covering 120 km and in a state of great disrepair.
Our analysis focused on the investments to be made (in the order of CHF 25 to 30 million) to upgrade the Hershey network with second-hand rolling stock and to allow the current production of electrical energy by means of a particularly polluting thermoelectric power station to be replaced by solar energy production devices.
Due to local budgetary constraints, we had to give up the renewal of the rolling stock and our efforts are now focused on fixed installations and the financing of a decarbonized electricity production.
Case study in Madagascar
The “electric train” project, in fact an RER designed to link a suburban area to downtown Antananarivo, is making progress on the civil engineering infrastructure. However, the same cannot be said of all electrification work, safety installations, the commissioning of trains purchased second-hand in Switzerland, the maintenance workshop and staff training. COMED’s support was therefore requested to manage these phases of the project.
Close collaboration was therefore established with the Ministry of Transport and Meteorology, with diplomatic support from the Swiss Embassy in Antananarivo. Due to budgetary adjustments, the above-mentioned work has had to be postponed until the second half of 2024, with the aim of commissioning the first section by the end of 2025.
COMED has set priorities, both in terms of the financial constraints to be met and the successive stages in the completion of technical tasks, and an assessment of these is underway, both at the level of the government itself and at the level of the Ministry of Transport and Meteorology.
