Economy & Tech

JR West Announces First-Ever Renewable Energy-Powered Shinkansen Trains

JR West announced plans to switch a portion of power consumed by Shinkansen trains to renewable energy sources, a key step in its effort to achieve net zero.

Published

11 months ago

May 24, 2023

Nobuo Kurokawa

State-of-the-art N700S Shinkansen train (Photo courtesy of JR Tokai).

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The West Japan Railway Company, or JR West, announced on May 19 that it will switch 10% of the electricity used for trains in its Shinkansen operations to non-CO2-emitting renewable energy sources by 2027. The move marks the first time in Japan that Shinkansen trains will be powered by renewable energy.

Shinkansen trains consume a particularly large amount of electricity. The JR West Group aims to reduce CO2 emissions to net zero by 2050, making the new initiative a vital step in realizing its plan.

A Step Toward Net Zero

The company plans to procure electricity from power companies that is generated from solar power and other renewable energy sources. In so doing, electricity consumed by Shinkansen trains will be partially derived from renewable energy sources.

JR West also plans to power its Osaka Loop Line and Yumesaki Line with 100% renewable energy by 2027. Combined with the new initiative for the Shinkansen, an approximate 210 million kWh of electricity, or enough for 50,000 ordinary households, will be derived from renewable energy sources in 2027, according to a company spokesperson.

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