The Electricity Company Of Ghana & POBAD International Partner To Install EV Charging Stations In Ghana
Ghana’s Energy Commission has been promoting the adoption of electric vehicles, and it launched the Drive Electric Initiative in 2019. EVs can help take up some of Ghana’s excess electricity generation capacity, as at the end of 2019, Ghana’s installed electricity generation capacity was about 5 000 megawatts (MW), whereas the peak load was around 2,612 MW. Ghana moved from a deficit to having excess generation capacity in a short space of time due to a rush from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to address the deficit. A lot of these generators have “Take or Pay” clauses in their contracts, so Ghana has to pay for electricity it doesn’t need at the moment. Ghana is paying over US$500 million annually for power generation capacity that is not being used.
It seems the push for the adoption of EVs is bearing fruit, as the Ghana EV scene is starting to get some significant traction. Ghanaian startup SolarTaxi is offering the Cherry Tiggo 3xe 480 EV SUV, the 32 kWh Dongfeng JunFeng ER30 SKIO EV, as well as the 35.2 kWh JAC iEV7L. You can lease these EVs in Ghana starting from $160 per month. Another startup, Accraine Ghana, is also supplying EVSE, EV accessories, and used EVs imported from Europe.
Now POBAD International wants to charge up this transition to electromobility. POBAD has entered into a partnership with the national power utility company, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), to install EV charging stations across Ghana. POBAD has installed EV charging stations at the A&C Mall in East Legon and Stanbic Heights Mall in Accra. In the first phase of the project, POBAD will install a total of 200 chargers across southern Ghana.
PODAD will offer DC fast charging stations that support CCS, Chademo, and GB/T. The choice of GB/T is very interesting, as there will probably be a lot of used EVs that will come to Ghana from China. 90% of vehicles imported into most African countries are used vehicles. POBAD will offer a Pay-As-You-Go EV charging service at residences, workplaces, public places, and along major highway locations. Payments for the charging sessions are made via the use of either a POBAD prepaid card, an authorized bank VISA/Mastercard, or an approved mobile payment app. POBAD also offers slow AC chargers. POBAD also has an EV dealership service, offering both new and pre-owned EV models on a fully paid or 12-month bank guaranteed payment plan option. POBAD is prioritizing the longer range models of electric vehicle brands, and by coupling this with growing its charging network, it hopes to ease the range anxiety fears that a lot of consumers have of where to charge next when traveling between cities and neighboring towns.
“We install our EV chargers at your premises at no cost to the customer, therefore rolling out a cost efficient and stress-free EV charging service to ensure swift migration to use of electric vehicles. We know that EV drivers will surely need to charge up, so why force them to purchase expensive EV charging hardware. That way we can offer customers effective maintenance services and replacement of our old EV charging hardware when newer EV charging technologies are released,” says Mr. Paul Badoo, Founder and MD of POBAD International Ltd.
The 64 kWh Hyundai Kona is now officially available in Ghana. It was also on show at the launch of one POBAD’s charging stations. Its really good to see utility companies on the continent starting to really push for the adoption of EVs and supporting the rollout of public charging infrastructure. Its really a no brainer for utility companies as they are in the business of selling kWhs. The more EVs there are, the more kWhs they can sell, and Ghana desperately needs to sell a lot more kilowatt-hours right now to meet its contractual agreements with IPPs.
All images courtesy of POBAD International
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