The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) ministry of energy and infrastructure has selected Siemens technology to develop a national EV charging corridor.
Consisting of a network of ultra-fast electric vehicle (EV) chargers, the installation aims to help the country reduce carbon emissions by boosting EV adoption.
Ten Siemens Sicharge D 160kW ultra-fast chargers will be installed on the highways in Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah.
To meet changing market demands, the chargers have a scalable power of up to 300kW and can be expanded with additional external dispensers for up to two additional charging cables.
All are cloud-connected devices that allow operators to monitor and manage the chargers remotely.
The over-arching aim of the infrastructure will be to drive EV buy-in from the country’s citizens by addressing range anxiety while laying the groundwork for a more connected and sustainable transportation system.
Siemens will provide the charging infrastructure equipment, control and monitoring software, as well as training and commissioning support for the new network.
The command-and-control system reportedly allows full monitoring and control of all units and provides the foundation for the next phase of the project, which is to build an app for drivers to access and book chargers.
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Ongoing collaborations
The announcement follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the country’s ministry of energy and infrastructure and Siemens.
Signed in October 2021, the MoU established a long-term partnership between the two that aims to aid the ministry’s sustainability and digitalisation targets.
In addition to transportation, the discussions covered smart building technologies, microgrid and industrial energy management and intelligent substations on the grid edge.
The national EV charging corridor is the first project that will be delivered under the MoU framework.
“The UAE is committed and working with confidence to reduce the nationwide carbon footprint, by working on the demand side, supply-side and working on our different energies and future technologies to reduce our carbon footprint,” stated Sharif Salim Al Olama, under-secretary of the ministry of energy and industry.
“Electric vehicles are integral to this effort, and providing this fast, efficient and convenient EV corridor is a crucial step in the energy transition.”
Birgit Dargel, vice president sales emobility at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, added: “This project in the UAE continues the success story of our public fast charger Sicharge D… Its communication ability with the cloud provides operators with real-time information and flexibility to manage their charging network.”