Electric vehicle (EV) drivers can charge two vehicles at a time and access the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen campus after hours under arrangements for a new public charging station commissioned yesterday.
The solar-powered facility had already logged more than 200 charging sessions before its formal opening.
The launch comes as monthly charging sessions across the network monitored by the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) more than quadrupled, rising from 231 in January to more than 1,000 in October. GEA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Mahender Sharma said Guyana had imported more than 1,090 electric vehicles by the end of October and had already recorded its highest annual EV imports.
Sharma said the 60-kilowatt charger is paired with a 15-kilowatt solar array. The station draws additional electricity from the Guyana Power and Light grid when needed and sends surplus solar power back to the grid when the charger is idle. Charging stops during power outages because the station has no battery backup.
Sharma said the university had agreed to allow drivers onto the campus after hours and that the station was positioned to make that access possible. He said the other two sites installed under the same project had also seen early use, with 38 charging sessions at Mahaicony and 16 at Linden.
“They know there is a network there to support them, and that is what we’re doing,” Sharma said of EV drivers. He urged private businesses to invest in charging stations as more electric vehicles enter the country.
Guyana’s public charging network began with six sites, including Amazonia Mall in Providence, Giftland Mall on the East Coast of Demerara, Cheddi Jagan International Airport at Timehri, Little Rock Suites in New Amsterdam, the S&R parking lot at Parika and the GEA’s Quamina Street office in Georgetown. By October, the GEA listed nine public sites across Regions Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten, including Ogle airport, the Mahaicony Technical and Vocational Training Centre and Linden Electricity Company Inc.
The UG, Mahaicony and Linden installations are part of the Just Energy Transition Seed Funding Initiative, with a fourth charger planned for the Board of Industrial Training. Separately, the GEA reported in October that construction had begun on another solar charging carport at the K&K Service Station in Mahaicony. In June, the government projected that Guyana would have 24 public EV charging stations by the end of 2026.
Sharma said the initiative received a US$250,000 grant, while the government contributed $16.2 million towards structures and installation work at the three public sites. He put the average cost at $13.09 million per installation, including the charger, solar equipment, carport and grid connection.
Acting United Nations Resident Coordinator Katie Thomson said the project also brought together trainees from six regions and developed two national curricula covering EV maintenance and solar-powered charging infrastructure. The GEA reported that 22 master trainers graduated from a cohort of 24 in June.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips said the Turkeyen station would give students and future technicians a working example of how renewable energy can be used in transport.
“You have to build the infrastructure to accommodate those vehicles,” Phillips said. “You have to develop the human capacity to service those vehicles.”
Discussion