Kazakhstan has launched an autonomous solar-powered charging station for electric vehicles in Astana, which developers say is the first facility of its kind in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The country plans to scale up the technology and develop a nationwide network of similar green-tech solutions, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.
The autonomous charging station is located within the territory of the Alatau sports complex. The project was developed by Kazakhstan’s company BOLASHAQ POWER LLP and operates independently of the city’s electricity grid using an off-grid system. The facility includes 100 kW of solar generation capacity and energy storage systems with a combined capacity of 645 kWh.
The project also meets the criteria of Kazakhstan’s Green Taxonomy. The station was presented during an off-site working meeting chaired by Vice Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mansur Oshurbayev. Representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the Astana administration, NC KazAvtoZhol JSC, and the International Green Technologies and Investment Projects Center also attended the event.
The participants discussed the possibility of deploying similar autonomous charging stations along major national highways, in cities, at industrial facilities and other infrastructure sites. We need to create not individual green facilities, but an entire low-carbon economy infrastructure, where renewable energy, electric transport, innovative technologies and carbon projects operate as a single system.
A solar-powered charging station allows us to develop electric-transport infrastructure while simultaneously reducing the carbon footprint of its operation, said Oshurbayev. According to the vice minister, the key objective is to move from individual demonstration projects to their widespread adoption across Kazakhstan and create economically attractive conditions for investors.
Expanding the network of such stations could also help Kazakhstan build a portfolio of climate projects under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. The initiative is expected to attract private investment and contribute to a systematic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector.
The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources views autonomous solar-powered charging stations as one of the potential growth areas for scaling up green-tech solutions across Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan’s electric vehicle charging network is also continuing to expand as the number of electric vehicles grows.
According to the Ministry of Transport, 642 charging stations are currently operating nationwide, with plans to nearly double that number in the near future. Earlier, Qazinform reported Almaty retained lead as Kazakhstan's largest electric vehicle market.