A study on peak power reduction using regenerative energy in railway systems through DC subsystem interconnection

Owing to the consistent increase in energy efficiency issues, studies for improving regenerative energy utilization have been receiving attention in the Urban DC railway systems, where currently, the utilization of regenerative energy is low due to the lack of a specific plan for using this energy. The regenerative energy in railway systems has a low efficiency problem which results in the increase of the catenary voltage and a possibility to create problems to the electrical devices connected to the system. This paper deals with the power integration of large urban railway subsystems to improve regenerative energy utilization where the railway subsystems are integrated with other railway subsystems to improve the energy efficiency. Through the case studies, to find the realistic effect of integrated operation, the Seoul Metro subsystems, namely Line 5 and Line 7, has been applied. Also, evaluation for the electricity cost saving has been performed by using KEPCO electricity cost table.