Improving the Energy Efficiency of Railway Electrical Traction by Creating Smart Grid System

The article presents technical solutions to improve the energy efficiency in the system of traction rail power supply. Railway transport is a powerful consumer of electricity. A rather high part of the cost of railway transportation is determined by the cost of electricity consumed. In connection with the constant increase in the cost of electricity, an urgent task is to increase the energy-efficiency of electric transport systems, which will ensure a reduction in the cost of rail transportation. To improve the energy efficiency of electric traction, the concept of an intelligent traction power supply system is proposed, which provides monitoring and control of the transmission of electricity to the traction network. This system ensures the rational use of the recovery mode at the traction substations and in the electric rolling stock, work with powerful electrical energy storage devices, as well as connecting alternative energy sources to the traction power supply network. The Matlab/Simulink is used for developing a simulation model of the proposed intelligent traction power supply system. The research audience is engineers and scientists who work in the field of energy and railway power supply systems.