Chennai: Bids invited to install public EV charging stations in 9 locations

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL) has invited bids for developing public electric vehicle charging stations at nine locations within the Greater Chennai Corporation limits under the Build, Own and Operate (BOO) model.

According to the proposal, the project will be implemented on a public-private partnership basis, with the selected charge point operator responsible for the design, engineering, supply, installation, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the facilities.

The operator has to ensure that each location must have at least three chargers, one for light EVs such as two- and three-wheelers, and two 22kW AC chargers for four-wheelers, in line with Ministry of Power guidelines. They are allowed to install a maximum of five chargers in each location.

The proposed charging stations will be located at parking spaces in Ashtalakshmi Temple, Besant Nagar Beach, Mangal Lake Park at Ambattur, Corporation Playground at T Nagar, Somasundaram Ground at T Nagar, Semmozhi Poonga on Cathedral Road, Marina Beach, Bougainvillea Park at Anna Nagar and Nageswar Rao Park at Mylapore. As per the bid document, the GCC would provide the land for the setting up of the station. The operator will pay TNGECL a fixed amount for every unit of electricity sold, with the highest offer winning the bid and the rate staying unchanged for the 10-year contract.

However, EV charging station operators lamented that a steep hike in fixed electricity charges has made high-capacity public charging stations financially unviable, at a time when utilisation is still low.

In the recent tariff order, fixed monthly charges for EV charging stations under LT–VII tariff category in the above 50-112 kW slab have been increased to Rs 165/kW when compared to the previous tariff of Rs 79/kW. For stations above 112 kW under HT-V tariff category, the monthly demand charges have been increased to Rs 304/kilovolt-amperes (kVA) from the existing tariff of Rs 145/kVA.

“TN has the highest fixed charges for EV charging stations. In Kerala, Delhi, and Maharashtra, the fixed charges are zero, and in others, like Karnataka, they are much lower,” an operator said. “TN also charges Rs 9.75/unit from operators while New Delhi charges only Rs 4.50/unit for Low Tension (LT) and Rs 4 for High Tension (HT) connections. The state has to reduce the tariffs and remove fixed charges for charging stations.”