Meet the innovator harnessing wind power from passing trains

Dinner table conversations with her father about railways, cities and the environment led a young Anjali Devadasan to explore how transport infrastructure could be used to generate renewable energy.

Aged 14, she prototyped an idea for a highway speed cushion that produces electricity from passing vehicles to power lighting, and considered if wind turbines stood on the roofs of buildings could create energy for urban applications.

But it was the devastating flash floods in Kerala in India in 2018 which reminded Anjali of these early ideas, to eventually create an impactful business using small two-metre high turbines to generate renewable energy.

“The floods were terrifying,” she recalls. “Five hundred people died, 33,000 were affected and members of my family were trapped in a kitchen with water levels rapidly rising.

“Destructive events like flash floods are caused by the effects of climate change, and the transport industry has the highest emissions of any sector. I wanted to do something to cut emissions, and reduce the threat of floods happening elsewhere.”

Anjali Devadasan, co-founder, Treeva

Within five years, Anjali co-founded engineering firm Treeva which produces turbines that rotate from the airflow of passing road traffic, trains and even planes at airports – to generate renewable energy for transport applications. She points out that the turbines are particularly useful if located in remote or temporary works locations, where connecting to the national grid may prove difficult.

Last year the firm was accepted onto the Clean Futures Accelerator led by Connected Places Catapult to develop its product for railway use. Through the programme, Treeva created and tested a series of modular ground foundations for the turbines, to allow them to be installed easily on temporary works sites.

Each turbine can provide a third of the lighting needs of a small station, power four CCTV cameras, run two passenger information screens, or provide trackside heating for a 25m length of site for rail operatives working outdoors in winter.

Anjali says that Clean Futures has led to commercial interest from eight new clients, and the company now has 23 customers in the UK and overseas set to receive wind turbines for rail and road applications.

She explains that the company name is an amalgam of tree (judges on a previous accelerator asked why it didn’t just plant trees beside roads) and ‘eva’ – standing for environmental value added. “The question was surprising, but made us think,” Anjali says. “We’re not replacing trees, but can make more of an impact than trees in reducing emissions.”

Materials, robotics and public speaking

Anjali grew up in Reading and attended a selective all-girls grammar school which placed “a lot of focus on empowering women”. She studied physics, maths and chemistry at A level, plus an extended project qualification which saw her explore the feasibility of creating a real-life ‘Iron Man’ suit from the Marvel comics.

Anjali also remembers a competition to build an automated Lego robot, volunteering at a refugee support homework club – teaching young children English, science and maths – and leading a ‘Ted-Ed’ international speaking competition.

She went on to study materials science and engineering at Imperial College London – inspired in part by her mother who is a science lecturer and researcher – and was a finalist in a national female undergraduate of the year contest. She then secured an internship with Rolls Royce where she spent two 10-week summer placements.

The first was with the company’s Futures Programme team within civil aerospace, looking at ways to reduce the running cost of engines. The next year, Anjali worked with the materials engineering facility to amend the design of jet engines.

A year into her degree she became an outreach ambassador for Imperial, encouraging children to pursue careers in science; a role she continues to fulfil. Recently she has shown students her wind turbines and asked them to design different shaped blades.

Her advice to those following in her footsteps is to “believe in yourself, make sure you pursue what you enjoy, and stay resilient with your ambitions”.

Asking industry for feedback

Anjali and Treeva co-founder Yu Gu started exploring the idea of wind turbines to generate renewable energy in 2021 before registering the company two years later. They spoke to over 200 transport operators and found many have issues with providing energy to remote works sites, and there is often plenty of readily available land beside railways, roads and airports to install equipment.

“We reached a point where we realised this is something that can really make a positive impact, and started developing early prototypes,” says Anjali. The first installation was beside a busy road in Maidenhead.

Naturally, the closer the turbines are to passing traffic the more effective they will be. Installations beside highways have typically been within two metres of a boundary. With railways, it has been found that the turbines can spin for at least 10 minutes after a fast train has passed by; generating energy that is stored in a battery.

“A train passing every 30 minutes at 100mph would be one of the best scenarios. Three to five turbines could comfortably provide enough power to a remote train station; and trains passing at 50 to 60mph could power a rail depot.”

She adds that Clean Futures helped the company to enter the railway market and develop a bespoke solution that solves a big problem of operators working in remote areas needing power. A turbine was installed beside a test track at the BCIMO research centre in Dudley, which “gave us a lot of credibility”.

“Connected Places Catapult has also been incredible in terms of connecting us to stakeholders, providing support through workshops and training around how the technology could align with the transport sector, and investment advice,” Anjali says.

“We do get asked why this hasn’t been done before! It's exciting to see how determined people are to make a positive impact through renewable energy.”

The Clean Futures Accelerator has just reopened for applications. Find out more, here.

Clean Futures is being led by Connected Places Catapult in collaboration with Coventry University. It is part of the wider West Midlands Innovation Accelerator, funded by UK Government and delivered by Innovate UK, which is designed to bolster the region’s innovation and R&D capability and spark commercial growth and investment.