Recently, the scientific and technological innovation project Research and Application of Flexible Traction Power Supply System for Heavy-haul Railways undertaken by Shuohuang Railway passed the final acceptance. Expert reviewers spoke highly of the project and reached unanimous agreement, marking the successful application of this domestically pioneering system in demonstration sections and achieving a breakthrough in the integrated development of transportation and energy sectors.
As China's second major corridor for west-east coal transportation, Shuohuang Railway has a main line of 594 kilometers. It starts from Shenchi South Station on the Loess Plateau at an altitude of 1,533 meters and ends at Huanghua Port on the Bohai Sea coast at sea level. The railway has significant gravitational potential energy. Heavy-haul trains brake frequently during operation and generate large amounts of regenerative braking energy. Efficient recovery and utilization of such energy is deemed a big technical challenge across the industry.
In response, Shuohuang Railway successfully developed a comprehensive technical solution covering system design, equipment integration and energy flow management, tailored to the traction load characteristics of electrified heavy-haul railways and enabling efficient utilization of regenerative braking energy. It has been tested and applied in the power supply sections of Dongye Station, Diliudeng Station and Xiaojue Station. The system achieves flexible cross-section regulation and efficient circulation of regenerative energy, providing a practical solution for the industry.
The project features three major innovations. It achieves cross-substation energy dispatching by installing power routers at core substations and controlling flexible power supply devices at adjacent section posts, to ensure the intelligent and orderly flow of regenerative braking energy across substations. It also adopts hybrid energy storage technology with flywheels and lithium titanate batteries, fully accommodating the high-power and strong-impact load characteristics of AC heavy-haul locomotives. In addition, it puts the flexible traction power supply system into engineering application across three stations and two sections on long and steep slopes, effectively enhancing the utilization rate of regenerative braking energy.
Since entering trial operation in November 2025, the flexible traction power supply system has maintained stable performance with remarkable results. Statistics show it saves around 42 MWh of electricity per day on average. The annual electricity cost reduction exceeds ten million yuan, and annual carbon dioxide emission cuts reach over 9,500 tonnes, delivering outstanding energy conservation and carbon reduction benefits. The project strongly advances the company's efforts to cut energy consumption and pursue green and low-carbon transition, laying a solid foundation for the large-scale promotion of integrated transportation and energy technologies in the future.
