The construction of solar powered charging station in Lumbini, which started on December 2018, is nearing its completion.
With 78 percent of the project work completed so far, the station is expected to open in April, according to the project officials.
The charging terminal will pave way for more Electric Vehicles (EV) to ply the roads without having to worry about running out of battery.
The station, built by Ishaka Electric Company of Japan with the financial assistance Rs 130 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has 594 solar panels with a combined power output of 154 kilowatt. There are 23 charging stands, three of them are quick chargers that can charge a bus with 40kw battery and two cars with 40kw batteries at the same time in under an hour. Normal chargers can take about an hour to completely charge one vehicle.
Two more charging centres are also being planned at the Gautam Buddha International Airport and the premises of the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT).
“In total, we will have 25 charging stands. The construction works have gained momentum and we hope to start operations at the power house before April,” said Jiban Khanal, an electric engineer, adding that they have imported various equipment for the power house from countries including Japan, China, Italy and Korea.
“We are waiting for the lithium-ion battery. The charger station will be fully operational once we receive the battery. It’s currently in Kolkata port in India,” Khanal said.
In total, 154kw electricity will be generated from the power house.
“It will be the one of the largest charging stations which will produce the highest amount of electricity from solar power in Nepal,” said Khanal, informing that the project also plans to supply electricity to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in case of surplus production. “If everything goes to plan, for the first year, the project will supply electricity to the NEA free of cost.
Then the supply of surplus electricity could be sold under various plans in coordination with the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation.”
The project also plans to install transformers to supply electricity to the NEA grid.
“We have requested the LDT to identify a location for a grid point to supply and store electricity,” said Nabutuso Nakab, an electrical of Ishaka Electric Company. “There’s a possibility of exchange of electricity between the NEA and the power station,” he said.
Source : The Kathmandu Post
