State-of-the-art fast charging stations for 51 electric vehicles built by the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) at various locations in the country have been inaugurated.

Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Minister of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, and Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire together inaugurated the fast charging station at Nepal Police Club Bhrikuti Mandap in Kathmandu.

Under the electric vehicle charging infrastructure development project, 51 charging stations for electric vehicles have been built in the main highways, bus parks, and major cities of seven provinces with authority investment and concessional loans from the Asian Development Bank, as well as technical support from the Norwegian government.

26 of the charging stations built at a cost of roughly Rs 40 crore can charge big buses, micros, trucks, pickups, and cars, while the remaining 25 can power small/large cars.

Minister Basnet stated at the opening program that placing 51 charging stations into operation is a significant step in the country’s sustainable growth by decreasing the effects of carbon emissions and climate change through green, clean energy consumption.

Basnet stated that the government is working on policies and legal measures to promote electric vehicles and that attempts are being made to entice investors to manufacture electric vehicles in Nepal.

Energy Secretary Ghimire stated that the usage of electric vehicles will assist improve per capita energy consumption, citing transportation as an essential industry that increases electricity use internally.

Kulman Ghising, executive director of the authority, said that the charging station has been established to promote the use of electric vehicles. Ghising stated that electric vehicles are 15/20 times cheaper than those that operate on petroleum, which will help the country’s foreign exchange reserves. He stated that the authority plans to build 500 more charging stations across the country.

Sujata Gupta, Head of the South Asia Energy Division of the Asian Development Bank emphasized on building infrastructure to encourage the use of electric vehicles as transportation is an important sector for reducing carbon emissions.

Cars will be charged an average of 70 paisa per kilometer, SUVs will be charged an average of 80 paisa, microbuses will be charged an average of 90 paisa, and buses will be charged an average of 120 paisa per kilometer. The charge can be completed in at least half an hour to an hour depending on the battery capacity of the automobiles accessible in Nepal.

Charging stations have been developed to enhance internal electricity consumption, minimize consumption of petroleum products and imports, and develop environmentally friendly transportation systems through the usage of electric vehicles.

Each charging station includes a 142 kW charger, a 50 kVA power supply transformer, and an online charging system. The charging station has fast charging 60/60 kilowatt DC and 22 kilowatt AC chargers. This allows three vehicles, even large buses, to be charged at the same time.

A deal was inked for Rs 377,955,000 (excluding tax) with ?Wanbang Digital Energy Corporation Limited, Jiangsu, China, for the construction, supply, installation, testing, operation, and maintenance of the charging station.

The contractor company will maintain the charging station for the first five years of its operation.

The charging station’s software will be housed in the authority’s data center so that more than 300 chargers can be served.

All 51 stations will be controlled from Kathmandu. The customer can pay the bill after charging the vehicle using the QR code and smartphone app.