Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is preparing to operate its 51 fast charging stations within the next one month.

Sagar Gyawali, project manager at the NEA, said the authority has already built 40 charging stations while installation of another 11 infrastructure will be completed within the stipulated time period.

The NEA had announced plans to install charging stations some two years ago. In March 2021, the state-owned power utility awarded the Chinese Company—Jiangsu Jingdao New Energy Co Ltd, with the contract of installing 501 charging stations across the country, including seven in the Kathmandu Valley. However, due to the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, the plan hung in the balance during the period.

Gyawali said the infrastructures are now at their final stage of construction. “We have planned to install additional 11 charging stations by June end this year,” he added.

Recently, the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has increased dramatically, due to growing concern of climate change triggered by the overuse of fossil fuels. However, lack of an adequate number of charging stations has come up as one of the big hurdles in facilitating the motorists to switch to the EVs.

The records with the Department of Customs show that imports of EVs increased by 66.39 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. During the review period, the country imported a total of 2,451 EVs, up from 1,473 units.

As of now, there are 60 DC fast chargers and 300 AC chargers available across the country. The NEA aims to install one charging station at every 60 km stretch of the main highways across the country. Likewise, it is looking forward to collaborating with the private sector to install a total of 500 charging stations by the next fiscal year end.

However, the private sector stakeholders say they will face excess costs for operating the charging stations. “NEA has maintained the threshold allowing the private sector to charge only up to 20 percent above the actual electricity cost, which will not help us earn profits in the business,” said Rajan Babu Shrestha, vice-president of the Nepal Automobile Dealers’ Association.