TfL Aims to Power Tube With 100% Renewable Electricity by 2030

The London Underground will be powered entirely by renewable electricity sourced directly from generators by 2030, under plans mooted by Transport for London and Mayor Sadiq Khan.

TfL and the Greater London Authority (GLA) have announced their intentions of reaching Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with a range of wind and solar generators, with the aim of purchasing up to 10% of the transport network’s electricity demand by spring 2022. They’ll also plot a feasible route to 100% renewable power by 2030 for the capital’s largest energy consumer.

As part of these plans, City Hall has revealed publicly the power demand of the transport network or the first time. 

TfL, with its thousands of electrically powered trains and 3,800 hybrid and electric buses, consumers 1.6 TWh of electricity annually, the equivalent of the power consumption of 437,000 average London households, or around 12%.

Currently, TfL sources that power directly from National Grid via the Crown Commercial Service.

The zero-carbon rail ambition aligns with Khan’s pledge to make the capital reach net-zero emissions by the end of the decade.

However, Khan said the initial plans for decarbonising the rail network aren’t more ambitious due to the financial challenges of the coronavirus crisis. Tumbling passenger numbers during the lockdown ate into fares, leaving TfL £1.6 billion in the hole and needing a bailout from central government. The organisation has furloughed 7,000 staff since March, as it runs an abbreviated service.

Khan said: “Covid-19 has had a devastating impact but as we recover, we want to make sure that we build a better, greener and more equal city.

“This work to secure cost-effective and renewable energy for the rail network, with ambitions to include the wider GLA group and beyond, will play a key role in London’s green recovery and accelerating action on the climate emergency.”

City Hall is also investigating the possibility of securing PPAs to meet the 143GWh annual demand of Greater London’s bodies and services, including London Fire Commissioner, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, the London Legacy Development Corporation, and the Old Oak Common and Park Royal Development Corporation.

The Mayor’s office is also considering opportunities to power all of London’s public services, including schools, local authority offices and leisure services, with renewable electricity. Together with the GLA group, these services consumer around 3TWh of electricity each year, or the equivalent of 820,000 homes, or nearly a quarter of all London households.

Dr Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association, a trade body for the industry, welcomed TfL’s entry into the PPA market. "This is a major step forward for both the low-carbon transport and power sectors, and we hope to see other London boroughs also getting involved," she said.

This isn’t TfL’s first venture into renewable power. In 2018, the transport network reached a deal with Engie to install 1.1MW of solar panels on its offices and bus stations. Additionally, waste heat from the Underground is being harnessed to heat 1,350 homes, a school and two leisure centres in Islington, North London.