How much electricity does the high-speed rail consume per hour? You may not believe it when you say it, where does so much electricity come from?
Incredible! Relevant information shows that a high-speed rail with a speed of 250 kilometers per hour needs to consume 4,800 degrees of electricity per hour. And the high-speed rail with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour needs to consume 9600 degrees of electricity per hour. What is the concept of 9600 degrees? This amount of electricity can power an air conditioner for 55 years! These numbers really frighten us. So where does this electricity come from? China's high-speed rail is losing money every year, is it because it consumes too much electricity? Next, I will find out for you all!
Where does this power-hungry high-speed rail come from?
Although the power consumption of high-speed rail is beyond our imagination, whether it is ordinary residential electricity or high-speed rail power supply, these electricity are provided by the public grid. For high-speed rail, after the power plant generates electricity, it is sent to the traction substation through the transmission line, and then the power is transmitted to the railway through the catenary. The following picture can help you understand.
When you are on the high-speed rail, have you noticed the wire equipment on the head of the high-speed rail? Those wire equipment are the tools that carry electricity to the high-speed rail, they are the catenary and the pantograph. The so-called pantographs are those conductive supports that look like bows on the head of the high-speed rail, so how does the pantograph supply electricity to the high-speed rail? During the operation of the high-speed rail, the top of the high-speed rail will be in contact with the pantograph. When the high-speed rail runs at high speed, the pantograph generates current through friction, which ensures the smooth operation of the high-speed rail!
So when the high-speed rail is running, does it have to be powered all the time?
In fact, in the operation of high-speed rail, it is not always connected to the power grid, but often passes through a section without electricity. This section is about 100 meters. The high-speed rail needs to rely on inertia to pass through this section. When passing through this section, the high-speed rail The lighting equipment on the high-speed rail can still operate normally, because the high-speed rail has its own batteries. Although these batteries cannot directly provide power support, they can supply power to the lighting equipment on the high-speed rail!
It is worth mentioning that although there are no safety problems caused by power outages during the operation of China's high-speed railways, China's high-speed railways are now facing a huge problem, that is, huge losses.
According to relevant data, in the first three quarters of 2021, China's high-speed rail lost 69.8 billion yuan.
So is the huge loss of China's high-speed rail because it consumes too much electricity?
In fact, the reason why China's high-speed rail is facing losses is the result of a combination of factors. In addition to the huge power consumption, there are the following two factors.
- The cost of high-speed rail is very high
Before the high-speed rail was opened to traffic. In addition to the construction and maintenance of high-speed rail, it also includes various labor costs, of which construction costs account for a large proportion. According to relevant data, the construction cost of China's high-speed rail is as high as 150 million yuan per kilometer, and the cost of building high-speed rail in rugged terrain is even higher.
- The train cost of China's high-speed rail is relatively expensive
It is reported that the cost of China's high-speed rail locomotive exceeds 17 million yuan, and it also requires a considerable maintenance cost in the later operation. Before China's high-speed rail is put into operation, it will cost at least hundreds of millions of yuan.
Combining these factors, coupled with the long investment return cycle of the high-speed rail industry, it is not difficult to understand the loss dilemma faced by China's high-speed rail. Today, the state has also introduced relevant measures to ease the loss of high-speed rail. The construction of new high-speed rail will be limited, and the high-speed rail that does not meet the requirements of passenger flow density and connecting cities must be slowed down, which will also be able to reduce the loss of high-speed rail in China. Of course, we can't blindly focus on the loss of high-speed rail, because the economic benefits brought by China's high-speed rail to China's economic development and the lives of people across the country cannot be measured in money.