Ireland To Install 1500 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Across The Country

Gone are the days when gasoline would pour out of the nozzle at a gasoline station. Acting closely to the British Government decision to establish electric charging stations across the state, Government of Ireland is also planning something similar. The country is now going to have almost whole city transport system working on electric energy within a few years.
Irish Government has asked the Irish Electricity Supply Board (ESB) to make the system of electric car charging fully functional as soon as possible. ESB is the only company involved in this task. Also being the only organization, it has solved the compatibility problems while developing this project. ESB is mainly focusing on Wind energy to power these electric stations, another long term decision which would make it possible to act on a “Go Green” slogan.
Ireland has an installed wind power capacity of 1459 MW out of its 5000MW peak demand. The installed wind power is expected to double by next year and reach a 6000MW mark by the year 2020. When asked about the decision of using non renewable source of energy, Mr. Senan McGrath, the chief technology officer of ESB Cars said that Ireland has a large potential of generating wind power. Moreover it can also be generated at night too. It is projected that most of the people charge their cars during night hours. This would make it possible to go about the project.
According to the initial plans, Ireland is hoping to install 1500 EV charging stations as compared to its Eastern neighbor Britain which is planning 1300. The charging stations to be installed in Ireland are going to be fast enough and would not take 6-8 hours as the conventional battery charging devices take. They are designed to charge a vehicle from 20% to 80% capacity in merely 20 minutes, nothing more!
Government is also thinking of giving an incentive of €5,000 for purchasing electric cars, once the system is ready and fully operational. The basic underlying idea is a smooth transition from traditional gasoline fed automobiles to EVs. Government has signed an MOU with Renault-NISSAN and Mitsubishi for launching its electric variants across Ireland. Ireland is a small country with a population around 6 millions of which 2 millions live in or around the Capital Dublin. This has made the project less complicated as it is not developed for a mega country.
After completion of this project, Ireland is hoping to become a country having a clean automotive system away from conventional Gasoline which is becoming expensive day by day and also an environmental hazard. This region in Europe including Britain would stand as an example of clean fuel system for the rest of the world. The other countries would soon follow suit.
Source: TheEngineer