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620 electric vehicle chargers to be installed at public carparks in the next 12 months

^{This article was first published in The Straits Times on 3 Sept 2021. PHOTO: ST FILE}

More than 600 electric vehicle (EV) chargers will be installed at some 200 public carparks in HDB estates, industrial estates and the Central Business District over the next 12 months.

The first of these chargers are expected to be installed by the end of this year.

By the third quarter of next year, there will be 210 charging points in the central region, 50 in the north, 100 in the north-east, 120 in the east and 140 in the west.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Friday (Sept 3) that a consortium comprising ComfortDelGro Engineering and Engie South East Asia has been awarded a tender to set up EV charging points in selected carparks in the central, east and west regions.

Another consortium comprising Primech A&P, Charge+, Sunseap Group and Oyika has been awarded a tender to install the charging infrastructure in carparks in the north and north-east regions.

The tenders, which form a pilot tender put out in November last year, are the first steps towards a national target of 40,000 charging points in public carparks by 2030.

URA and LTA said they wanted to ensure that the pilot tender for the charging points was awarded to operators with quality charging services, financially sustainable business models and competitive charging prices.

"As such, agencies adopted a price-quality method to assess and select proposals that would provide the best value for both consumers and the authorities," said URA and LTA.

They said the consortiums led by ComfortDelGro and Primech A&P have offered competitive charging rates and a sustainable business model.

URA and LTA added that these two consortiums have also committed to delivering a complete suite of services, including the installation, operation and maintenance of EV charging infrastructure, among other proposals.

They said the consortium will pay the Government concession fees ranging between $0.108/kWh and $0.154/kWh for the right to deploy charging points.

ComfortDelGro and Engie said in a joint statement on Friday that they won the tender to install 479 of the 632 chargers in the pilot roll-out.

They said the chargers installed by them will comprise 192 22kW AC chargers, 279 7kW AC chargers and 8 50kW DC chargers.

Transport Minister S. Iswaran said in a speech at the Land Transport Industry Day on Friday that the building up of an EV charging network is a key component of Singapore's strategy to promote electric vehicles.

He noted that land transport currently accounts for 15 per cent of Singapore's domestic carbon emissions, with more than 90 per cent of this coming from the vehicle population.

Mr Iswaran said the Transport Ministry and LTA have been working on the design of the market structure for EV charging in public residential carparks, and for the necessary upgrades to the electrical infrastructure.

A request-for-information exercise conducted by LTA earlier this year collected feedback from 27 respondents. Mr Iswaran said these inputs will be considered by the Government in shaping the policy for EV charging infrastructure.

He also announced on Friday that LTA and public transport operators will seek to generate more solar power from the public transport infrastructure.

LTA will launch a tender to deploy more solar photovoltaic systems, likely via a leasing mode, said Mr Iswaran. Such systems use cells to convert sunlight into electricity.

"A notable feature of the tender is that it will seek creative technologies and installation methods to optimise yield at less conventional areas, such as covered linkways and pedestrian overhead bridges," said Mr Iswaran.

"This will not only help us reduce emissions, but also energy costs."

Mr Iswaran, who was speaking to an audience made up of people across the land transport industry, also said that Covid-19 has continued to affect the sector.

He said rail and bus commuter ridership remain at just over 60 per cent of the levels before the pandemic started. Taxis and private-hire car trips are at around 75 per cent of usual levels.

Mr Iswaran noted that transport workers have been at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19. “Our transport workers have kept our world moving through the darkest days of the pandemic,” he said.

“To all of you, let me once again say a very big thank you - you have our deepest gratitude.”