JR (Central Japan Railway) Tokai will install solar panels in the “Norimen” that is the diagonal wall (slope) made by cutting down the mountain for a road in the mountains on the Tokaido Shinkansen between Shin-Yokohama Station and Nagoya Station. The total length of the panels to install will be approximately 3.5 kilometers, and the first installation will be operational from the end of fiscal year 2024.

The electricity generated is expected to be used for lighting at Shinkansen stations. It is expected to generate 2.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year with maximum power output of 2.7MW, which is equivalent to the electricity used by 650 average households, and to reduce CO2 emissions by 1,200 tons.

This is the first time in Japan that a renewable energy power generation system has been installed on a Shinkansen rail track. JR Tokai is accelerating its efforts toward a decarbonized society by, for example, announcing this month that it will develop a train using a “hydrogen engine” that will emit almost no carbon dioxide while running.