Chicago Transit Authority Power Study

The study was performed to select the placement of energy storage devices with in  the sub station network providing electrification to the Chicago light rail system. With the use of regenerative braking system the trains of this light rail system are able to convert the kinetic energy from slowing and stopping the train to electrical power.   With proper placement of the energy storage devices the study would be considered feasible if the electrical power captured was above a certain threshold.

The results of the power study determined that the energy captured from the traction power regenerative braking system was being used almost immediately buy local trains, and under the best conditions the key sub stations could only capture a few MW of power.

Identified Sub-station Loading