First public electric vehicle charging station in Goa inaugurated

The first public electric vehicle charging station in Goa was inaugurated on January 28, 2021.

The inauguration was done at the hands of Chief Minister of Goa, Dr. Pramod Sawant. The EV charging unit is part of the Green Goa Initiative.

The EV charger has been installed by Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) at the Assembly Complex of Goa Legislative Secretariat.

It is a 142 KW fast charger and is first among the 12 public EV chargers to be set up by CESL.

The Chief Minister also flagged off two Electric Vehicles — a Hyundai Kona and a Tata Tigor from Goa Legislature Secretariat, Assembly Complex, Porvorim.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa, said, “The Goa government is hoping to set an example for the nation by emerging as a frontrunner in electric vehicle standards. Statistics have shown that with the rise in the number of vehicles in the state, there has been a rise in the air pollution levels. If pollution is to be reduced, it is necessary to move to electric vehicles. With this collaboration, I hope we will be able to meet the charging infrastructure requirements of the state. I congratulate CESL for this initiative and hope that other states too come forward to boost EVs and EV charging infrastructure.”

So far, three high-capacity combo EV chargers of 122-150kW, Type-2 AC standards have been installed that can charge long range EVs like Hyundai Kona, Tata Nexon, and Maurice Garage (MG) EV variants. Adjoining to these EV chargers, Bharat Standard DC001 EV chargers are planned for recharging moderate range EVs such as Tata Tigor and Mahindra e-Verito. This shall be completed by February 2021.

The establishment of EV charging units is part of the agreement signed between EESL and Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) on November 6, 2020. CESL has been anchoring the electric vehicles ecosystem development in the country, undertaking demand aggregation for procuring EVs and supporting the transition in bringing innovative business models and implementation wherewithal for accelerated roll-out of EV charging units.