Retrofitting Catenary-Powered Transport Systems Toward Greater Electrification

Electric transportation is expected to play an important part in the urban energy transition as catenary-powered networks become more widely deployed. However, technological problems must be overcome to ensure that current networks can be used successfully without sacrificing vehicle performance and network technical compliance. This research seeks to justify the usage of battery energy storage systems (BESS) as a retrofitting solution for catenary-powered traction networks. The goal is to strengthen the network without compromising overall operational efficiency, allowing additional electrification projects to be executed using the same network infrastructure without significant changes. To achieve this objective, solutions using second-life batteries (SLB) are compared with scenarios involving new batteries and alternative strategies, such as reinforcing critical catenary points and implementing voltage regulation in substations. The results show that, although SLBs from decommissioned vehicles present a viable solution, they require battery capacities at least four times greater than those needed for solutions using new batteries.