Less than one year after the Federal Government unveiled the first ever electric vehicle, Hyundai Kona in Lagos and Abuja, the President Buhari-led administration has commissioned the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) Solar Powered Electric Vehicle Charging Station in Lagos.
The government also launched the NADDC Electric Vehicle Pilot programme, another programme of the Federal Government’s initiatives designed to promote advanced technology transfer and the development of sophisticated human capital.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, who unveiled the Solared EV Charging Station at the University of Lagos, Tuesday, said programmes such as these are the lifeblood of everything Nigeria is trying to achieve, adding that it a proven fact among advanced nations, that the key to successful industrialization is strategic human capital and capacity development in arts technologies.
Adebayo emphasised that the programme is capable of creating tools to build a future that is uniquely Nigerian and inspire innovation and creativity to open a new chapter in economic development.
According to the Minister, the charging station has been developed by the NADDC in its efforts to promote applicable local solutions for Vehicle Electrification in Nigeria.
He said: “It will offer students firsthand experience with the latest innovations in mobility and renewable power technology. It is strategized to be an effective platform for focused Research and Development into even more applicable Vehicle Electrification solutions for Nigeria and Africa.”
In his remark, Director General of NADDC, Mr. Jelani Aliyu, said Nigeria must be part of whatever advanced technology was being leveraged by developed countries around the world and must also be identified, transferred and optimised by Nigeria for the betterment of its people.
Pointing out that Nigeria is in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterised by highly advanced technologies, robotics, artificial intelligence, block chain technology and other incredible solutions, Aliyu said: “For the Automotive sector it means vehicles that are highly embedded with ICT solutions, connectivity between the vehicles themselves, their users and the road infrastructure. It means vehicles that think for themselves and are therefore safer, more efficient and better for humanity.”
Aliyu noted that the initiative is important because the world can no longer afford to continue polluting the environment through the use of fossil fuel and its attendant emission of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane.
He said: “That is why the NADDC, with the immeasurable support of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, is committed to promoting the adoption, development, manufacturing and usage of advanced technology in the Nigerian Automotive sector.
“Early this year, on the 5th of February, H.E. The Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment unveiled the first Nigerian assembled Electric Vehicle, the Hyundai Kona EV, and today he is commissioning the NADDC Solar Powered EV Charging Station, here at the University of Lagos. These developments add Nigeria to the league of nations actively committed to the protection of the environment through zero emissions vehicles.”
He said the EV Charging Station commissioned is 100 percent Solar Powered.
The installation consists of 60 PV Monocrystalline Solar arrays (panels), which have a capacity of 86.4 kilowatts per hour, with 3 online-offline 5KVA Hybrid inverters synchronized together to give 15 KVA/48 Watts.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatosin Ogundipe, commended the government for the initiative, saying that the choice of UNILAG is another sign to show that the school is on the right track.
“In any country, research is carried out in the universities, so that further research can be carried out. This project is also near our energy centre,” the VC said.
Also speaking, Board Chairman, NADDC, Senator Osita Izunaso said UNILAG got chosen for the projects because of the availability of a solar centre at the school.
Izunaso added that Usman Dan Fodio University was first used followed by UNILAG and that University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) will be the next centre for the programme.
Distinguished Senator Iyiola Omisore, member, NADDC Governing Board, who also spoke at the event, said that both the EV project and solar power charging stations project are laudable as they are Eco-friendly.
Omisore said: “What we are doing in UNILAG is ahead of others. It means absolute zero emission. It might look simple but a very big technological breakthrough. We used UNILAG because universities are the basis of research.”
CEO of Stallion Group, manufacturers of Hyundai Kona, Mr. Anant Badjatya, said that the steps taken by Nigeria were in the right direction.
Badjatya commended the NADDC for thinking of the initiative.
