Low carbon, high power: rail improvement using renewables

Low carbon, high power: rail improvement using renewables

Since rail is such an eco-friendly form of transport, it makes perfect sense for Enable Hire to provide an exciting and innovative low-carbon solution when supporting a rail improvement scheme.

Our sister company, Enable Infrastructure, has a team at Reading delivering a project for Network Rail called Reading Independent Feeder (RIF). RIF will provide an additional high-voltage power supply from the National Grid to the electrified Great Western Main Line, bringing benefits including improved passenger service reliability and greater flexibility for maintenance regimes.

We took over a brownfield site and created a new depot for the project to operate from. Enable Hire is supplying all the plant and tooling for the project, while Enable Welfare has supplied welfare cabins and other site facilities.

The most exciting part of our work at the RIF site was establishing a renewable energy farm using both solar and wind, with the power generated being stored on site using large battery storage units. This energy is used to charge an electric telehandler in the site yard and to recharge all the project’s battery tooling, as well as an EV charge point. The result? We have significantly reduced CO2 emissions already and are working towards a net zero project delivery.