New Delhi:
After Noida Authority slammed Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) in an official statement for not completing the deployment of EV charging stations within the designated time frame, the latter released an official statement in response to the installation of public charging stations in Noida.The city authority urged EESL, the parent company of Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) to take immediate steps to fast track the deployment of charging stations.
Also Read: Noida Authority pulls up EESL over EV charging infrastructure
The Noida Authority, in an official statement, slammed EESL for not completing the deployment of EV charging stations within the designated timeframe. It pointed out that the authority is also receiving complaints of installed charging stations that have run out of order in the nearby areas of Sector 42.
In response, EESL clarified that it was mandated to set up 162 chargers in Noida under the Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) FAME II scheme, comprising 54 numbers of 15kW (DC-001) and 108 numbers of 122kW (50kW CCS + 50kW CHAdeMO + 22kW Type 2 AC) chargers. Most of these charging stations require a power load above 50kW (under 200 kW), leading to additional capital investment equivalent to INR 25 Lakhs.
“In a bid to reduce the cost, EESL had applied for a new meter connection in the range of 180-200 kW within the LT category, and an application was submitted to PVVNL (Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd) for the same in June 2020,” EESL said in a statement today.
However, EESL passes the buck on DISCOM for non-functional EV chargers. “..DISCOM has not yet responded to the request leading to delays in the completion of the project,” the statement said.
In November 2020, EESL had also applied for a pre-application load survey of the site to ramp up the installation process, but the request was declined thereby stalling the project endlessly.
Noida Authority also pointed out it is also receiving complaints of installed charging stations that have run out of order in the nearby areas of Sector 42.
“Now, CESL (a wholly-owned subsidiary of EESL) has already installed 69 EV chargers, out of which 30 have been commissioned and opened for public use,” it said.
Some of the popular EVs which are compatible with these public chargers are Tata Nexon, MG ZS-EV, Hyundai Kona, Audi e-Tron, Mercedes EQC, Kia EV6, BMW i4, BYD E6, Jaguar i-Pace, and others.
Additionally, there are a total of 23 operational DC chargers in the NCR and 96 public charging stations in Delhi and all of these can be accessed through ElectreeFi mobile application, the official statement further added.
Clarifying further, EESL stated, “Therefore, most of the public charging stations in Noida have not been commissioned due to prevailing LT supply code restrictions (<50kW) in Uttar Pradesh, and both CESL/ EESL have been continuously following up with the authorities to get the chargers energized.”
India’s electric revolution is in dire need of more power and the charging infrastructure space needs urgent focus.
On Sunday, ETAuto conducted a quick lookout survey with MG Motor ZS EV in and around Noida city to get a first-hand experience of these public charging stations and find out how many of them are operational? Starting from the busiest streets of Noida, we found our first charging station commissioned by EESL at Sector 16 Film City. However, the station was not in operation with zero power supply, so we promptly moved to the next location at Sector 2 about 2km away. The second one also malfunctioned. Much to our surprise, the charging station installed at Noida MG Motor service center was also running out of order, which was our third spot.
We then drove to our last destination at Sector 32, an area adjacent to the Noida Authority office, where we found three charging stations in a row. All were deployed by EESL and none of them were in a working condition.
Also Watch: Search for a Public EV Charger: Happy Ending or Disappointment?
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, Government of India, had signed the agreement on 9 July 2020 with the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) to promote electric vehicles and install public EV charging stations & related infrastructure.
The agreement was signed by A.K Tyagi, General Manager, Noida Authority and Amit Kaushik, Executive Director (Growth), EESL, in the presence of Ritu Maheshwari, CEO, Noida Authority.
According to the agreement, EESL would be responsible for the upfront investment on services along with the operation and maintenance of public charging infrastructure by qualified manpower. Whereas, Noida authority would be responsible for the provision of space for the charging infrastructure.
The initiative estimated to save over 3.7 tonnes of CO2 emissions per e-car per year.
