Technical Note 19

Rail and Metro Power Requirements

This technical note sets out our estimate of the total power requirements for the
proposed passenger rail and metro systems as currently being safeguarded.
Assumptions for Metro

1500 V DC Minimum line voltage (based on information relating to the Tung

Chung metro)
Average station to station trip is 2.6 km.
Therefore average station to station speed will be 65 kph (excluding dwell time)
Average dwell time is 60 seconds
Average power consumption is 2/3 of max power (i.e. 2/3 of 6.36MW per train)
Calculations have been based on providing a peak service
Based on information from the new London Underground S- stock, distributed
power, 8-car units due to be put into service in 2009. The gain from regenerative
braking is somewhere in the region of 20% of the power consumed

Mohammed Bin Zayed loop (25km,

(25km, 9 stations)
stations)
Based on the available information it would take one trainset 32 minutes to complete
one lap. Thus to provide a service every 2 minutes in each direction, 32 trains will be
required. Trains would be spaced by approximately 1.3 km apart (in each direction) with
a total power consumption of 135 MW (4200kw for each train). Maximum power of a
1500 V dc substation is about 12 MW (2 x 6 MW), so thirteen or fourteen substations
each rated at 12 MW would be required. This would give a substation spacing of less than
2 km. This power requirement could be reduced by about 20 % if regenerative braking
was installed, as proposed.
The Central Loop (80km,
(80km, 30 stations)
stations)
Based on the information it take one trainset 104 minutes to complete one lap. Thus to
provide a service every 2 minutes in each direction, 104 trains will be required (excluding
any out of service). These trains would be spaced by approximately 1.6 km with a total
power consumption of 437 MW (4200kw for each train). Maximum power of a 1500 V dc
substation is about 12 MW (2 x 6 MW), so about forty substations each rated at 12 MW
would be required. This would give a substation spacing of around 2 km. The power
requirement could be reduced by about 20 % if regenerative braking was installed, as
proposed.
Summary
The total power requirement is 572 MW (or 460 MW with regenerative braking)
Due to the power requirement at each substation, a dedicated 66 kV or 132 kV ring would
be required. Allowing for future spare capacity, this ring would be fed from the grid at
three bulk supply points each 2 x 120 MVA for regenerative braking or 2 x 150 MVA
without regenerative braking.
Due to the large power requirements and the large distance between Yas Island and
Saadiyat island, the requirement to install substations approximately 2 km apart may
result in it being more economical to operate the metro system at 3000 V dc or 25 kV ac.

Additionally, the substation spacing of less than 2 km indicates that 1500 V dc is the
wrong voltage to choose and this service may be more economically constructed and
operated at 3000 V dc. It is recommended that a business plan should be undertaken to
examine the optimum voltage for the metro.
It is also recommended that the new trains are capable of regenerative braking as this
will result in huge power savings and reduce the number of substations required.
The above details need to be confirmed by means of Power System Simulations and a
Financial Business Plan to determine the best and most cost effective solution.
Assumptions for Rail

Figures have been based on the Swedish Railways Alstom 'Coradia' X40 doubledeck 14-car trains. These trains are designed to work off 15kV 16.67 Hz ac, and
might be more efficient on 25 kV ac.
Max Speed = 200 km/h
Max Load (@200kph) = 11,200 kW (11.2MW)
The system load has been calculated using max speed and therefore maximum
train load
This has been based on an Autotransformer arrangement (25kv-0-25kv)
Services to Al Ain and Qatar have only been based on 4TPH and 1TPH
respectively

The passenger rail system has been broken into 4 geographical sections
Central Business District Capital District
With a line speed of 160kph the trains will draw approximately 2/3 the power, which
equates to 7.5MW per train. Taking into account the 20 minute turn around time and the
requested timetable, there would be 22 trains present on this line/section at any one
time. Taking into account the stopping pattern and the turn around times the power
requirement to support this number of trains would be in the magnitude of 50 MVA.
Capital District Dubai
With a line speed of 200 kph the trains will draw maximum power, which equates to 11.2
MW per train. Taking into account the 20 minute turn around time and the requested
timetable, there would be 40 trains present on this line/section at any one time. Taking
into account the stopping pattern and the turn around times the power requirement to
support this number of trains would be in the magnitude of 320 MVA.
Capital City District - Al Ain
With a line speed of 200kph the trains will draw maximum power, which equates to 11.2
MW per train. Taking into account the 20 minute turn around time and the requested
timetable, there would be 7 trains present on this line/section at any one time. Taking
into account the stopping pattern and the turn around times the power requirement to
support this number of trains would be in the magnitude of 55 MVA.
Capital City
City District Qatar

With a line speed of 200kph the trains will draw maximum power, which equates to 11.2
MW per train. Taking into account the 20 minute turn around time and the requested
timetable, there would be 6 trains present on this line/section at any one time. Taking
into account the stopping pattern and the turn around times the power requirement to
support this number of trains would be in the magnitude of 56 MVA.
Power
To allow for maintenance, outages and future expandability in supporting the HV
network, the total power requirement is estimated at around 550 MVA.
The large power requirement and long distances between Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain and
Qatar, suggest that one large substation of approximately 400 MW that should be located
near to the Capital City District. For outage and voltage drop issues, four smaller
substations would also be required in the Central Business District, Dubai, Al Ain and
Qatar areas. All of these substations would be a bulk supply points, fed from the grid at
400kv. The ratings of the substations have been approximated as:
4x 60 MVA Substations would be required at Capital City District
2x 60 MVA Substations would be required in Dubai
2x 30 MVA Substations would be required in Central Business District
2x 30 MVA Substations would be required in Qatar
2x 30 MVA Substations would be required in Al Ain
These estimates have not taken into account the possibility of adopting regenerative
braking.
Trains
The power requirements of the network vary greatly depending on the type and
performance of the train used.
With the above assumptions, the number of trains required to meet the necessary service
level are:
Abu Dhabi CBD - Dubai (Express)
Abu Dhabi CBD - Dubai (Local)
Abu Dhabi CBD - Al Ain
Dubai intl Airport Qatar

12 TPH
- Requires 40 trains, 4km spacing
4 TPH
- Requires 15 trains, 10.8km spacing
4 TPH
- Requires 12 trains, 12.3km spacing
1 TPH
- Requires 8 trains, 79 km spacing
TOTAL
75 Trains

Summary
The average power requirement for the passenger rail is 480 MVA, this is however subject
to the type and performance of high speed trains. The above figure is an estimate ONLY
and cannot be confirmed without further power simulations and a financial business
plan to determine the technical and cost effective solution.

AH/MA/CPKS/243011/14 October 2008