The federal government of Nigeria has commissioned the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station. The charging station, which falls under the Elective Vehicle Pilot Project is an initiative of the National Automotive Design and Development Agency (NADDC).

The charging station is located at the University of Lagos.

The charging station commissioning took place at the university’s faculty of engineering, was attended by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; NADDC Board Chairman, Senator Osita Izunaso; and NADDC Director-General, Jelani Aliyi. Other dignitaries at the commissioning were the University of Lagos Vice-Chancellor, Prof Oluwatowin Ogundipe; Chief Executive Officer of the Stallion Group, Anant Badjatya and many other dignitaries.

Speaking while commissioning the project, the minister said the charging station is aimed at promoting applicable local solutions for vehicle electrification in the country. According to him, the project will offer students first-hand experience with the latest innovations in mobility and renewable power technology. “It is strategised to be an effective platform for focused research and development into even more applicable vehicle electrification solutions for Nigeria and Africa,” the minister added.

Adebayo described the programme as another initiative by the current administration designed to promote advanced technology transfer and the development of sophisticated human capital in the country.

He said: “For my ministry (the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment), programmes such as these are the lifeblood of everything we are trying to achieve.

“It is, after all, a proven fact among advanced nations, that the key to successful industrialisation is strategic human capital and capacity development in state-of-the-art technologies.”

The NADDC chairman stressed that the agency is committed to promoting the adoption, development, manufacturing and usage of advanced technology in the country’s automotive sector. In February, the minister had unveiled the first Nigerian assembled electric vehicle, the Hyundai Kona EV (pictured above).

According to him, these developments add Nigeria to the league of nations actively committed to the protection of the environment through zero-emissions vehicles. Speaking on the station, Aliyu said: “This EV charging station is 100% solar powered. The installation consists of 60 PV monocrystalline solar arrays (panels), which have a capacity of 86.4kW per hour, there are three online-offline 5kVA Hybrid inverters synchronised together to give 15kVA/48 watts, and we have 36 units of deep-cycle gel batteries with an output of 48 volts/19 and 0.”

The power bank consists of 36 units of dry cell, deep cycle batteries of up to 95kWh storage capacity. The system provides ordinary 13A and 15A sockets that can support all types of normal chargers. The station also provides a 7.4kW CCS fast charger and can support up to 11kW types.

The director-general added that the project would offer to the university an effective platform for advanced innovation in EVs and related renewable energy solutions.