DEWA says to double number of electric car chargers in Dubai

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced plans to double the number of its electric vehicles charging stations to 200 across Dubai.

DEWA said in a statement it is setting up different types of charging stations, including fast-charging stations installed at petrol stations that take 20-40 minutes.

These stations have three different plugs, one with a capacity of 48 kilowatts (kW) for Alternating Current (AC), CHAdeMO plugs, and Combo plugs with a capacity of 50kW of Direct Current (DC).

Medium-charging stations installed at shopping malls, parks, and Dubai Government customer service centres take 2-4 hours and feature two plugs, each with a capacity of 22kW while wall-charging stations with a capacity of 22kW for AC will take 2-4 hours to charge.

Dubai Government has set cost of charging at 29 fils per kilowatt hour (kW/h).

DEWA launched the Green Charger initiative in April 2014 and the latest announcement represents phase 2. The move complements DEWA’s efforts to reduce air pollution and protect the environment from the impact of the transport sector in the emirate.

“Through this initiative, DEWA aims to encourage people to use sustainable transportation of hybrid and electric vehicles, to help reduce carbon emissions in the transport sector, which is the second highest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in Dubai,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of DEWA.

The Supreme Council recently issued a directive for all government organisations that at least 2 percent of their vehicle purchases must be hybrid or electric vehicles from 2016 to 2020, increasing to 10 percent from 2021 to 2030.