The country's first solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station was commissioned on Thursday at the University of Guyana's Turkeyen Campus.

Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) Chief Executive Officer Dr Mahender Sharma said the project is part of national efforts to expand low-carbon transportation under the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030.

The facility has a 60-kilowatt (kW) charger, the most powerful public EV charger in the country's network. Its carport can accommodate two vehicles at a time and is supported by a 15kW grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system. Solar energy is used for charging during the day, and excess electricity is supplied to the grid through a net-billing arrangement with Guyana Power and Light (GPL).

The Government funded the project with a US$250,000 (G$52.1 million) grant from the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Just Energy Transition Seed Funding initiative, through the United Nations Joint SDG Fund. It contributed a further G$16.2 million (US$77,642), bringing the combined investment to about G$68.3 million (US$327,642).
Sharma said the overall electric mobility project covers four solar-powered charging stations, technical training and capacity building. The fourth station will soon be commissioned at the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) in Tuschen, Region Three.

A total of 22 master trainers were trained in solar PV installation, EV charging systems, and EV maintenance and management. Sharma said the installation was done by in-house staff and volunteers.

"The panels installation were not outsourced. We didn't pay for them separately. They were all done in-house with volunteer support to do these installations … to assist and learn from the installation, and we are happy to have trained a new group of professionals in this direction," he said.

More than 200 charging sessions were completed at the Turkeyen station before its official commissioning, Dr Sharma added.

GEA Chief Executive Officer Dr Mahender Sharma