The Federal Government has commissioned the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The project is the initiative of the National Automotive Design and Development Agency (NADDC), under the Elective Vehicle Pilot Project.
The commissioning, which took place on Tuesday at the University’s Faculty of Engineering, was attended by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo; NADDC Board chairman, Senator Osita Izunaso, and NADDC director-general, Jelani Aliyi.
Others were the University of Lagos vice-chancellor, Prof. Oluwatowin Ogundipe; chief executive officer of the Stallion Group, Anant Badjatya and many other dignitaries.
Speaking while commissioning the project, the minister said the charging station was aimed at promoting applicable local solutions for vehicle electrification in the country.
According to him, the project will offer students first-hand experience with the latest innovations in mobility and renewable power technology.
“It is strategised to be an effective platform for focused research and development into even more applicable vehicle electrification solutions for Nigeria and Africa,” Adebayo added.
Adebayo, therefore, described the programme as another initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari administration designed to promote advanced technology transfer and the development of sophisticated human capital in the country.
He added: “For my ministry (the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment), programs such as these are the lifeblood of everything we are trying to achieve.
“It is, after all, a proven fact among advanced nations, that the key to successful industrialization is strategic human capital & capacity development in state of the art technologies.”
Speaking earlier, the NADDC director-general stressed that the agency was committed to promoting the adoption, development, manufacturing and usage of advanced technology in the country’s automotive sector.
Aliyu recalled that on February 5, the minister had unveiled the first Nigerian assembled electric vehicle, the Hyundai Kona EV, hence the commissioning of the NADDC solar powered EV charging station.
According to him, the developments add Nigeria to the league of nations actively committed to the protection of the environment through zero-emission vehicles.
Speaking on the station, Aliyu said: “This EV charging station to be commissioned today is 100% solar powered.
“The installation consist of 60 PV Monocrystalline Solar arrays (panels), which have a capacity of 86.4 kilowatts per hour, there are 3 online-offline 5KVA Hybrid inverters synchronized together to give 15 KVA/48 WATTS, and we have 36 units of Deep Cycle Gel batteries with an output of 48 volts/19 and 0.
“The Power bank consists of 36 units of dry cell, deep cycle batteries of up to 95Kwh storage capacity.
“The system provides ordinary 13A and 15A sockets that can support all types normal chargers. The station also provides a 7.4kw CCS fast charger and can support up to 11kw types.”
The NADDC director-general added that the project would offer to the university an effective platform for advanced innovation in EVs and related renewable energy solutions.
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