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Turkey’s Sabanci to use green power for EV charging

Sabanci group plans to increase number of charging stations to at least 500 by year-end, says group president

Turkey’s Sabanci Holding aims to guarantee 100% renewable power at its electric vehicle (EV) Esarj-branded charging stations, the energy group president of the conglomerate, Kivanc Zaimler, told Anadolu Agency.

Zaimler said the Sabanci group aims to provide consumers with 100% renewable power at the charging stations, which will ensure the reduction of 2.5 million tons of carbon emissions by 2030.

Turkey needs to prepare for the expansion of its charging infrastructure to cater to the anticipated increase in the number of EVs in the country, he explained.

“The growth of renewable power generation will be more meaningful when combined with electric car charging,” Zaimler said.

Last year, 23,116 electric and hybrid cars were sold in Turkey, and the share of electric and hybrid cars out of the total automotive market rose from 3.2% to 3.8%.

The company has already put in place 400 EV charging stations over the past three years and plans to increase this to 500 or more by the year-end.

With Turkey’s plans to begin production of its first locally-produced EV by 2022, it expects to produce a fleet of 175,000 per year.

Under the leadership of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Turkey’s Automobile Joint Venture Group Inc. (TOGG) formed in 2018 with Anadolu Group, BMC, Root Group, Turkcell and the Zorlu Group to produce Turkey’s first-ever EV.

“We think that the spread of the electric car charging station infrastructure will start in big cities with public transport,” Zaimler noted, adding that the growth of charging stations will require investment in the electricity grid infrastructure, as the charging stations will be important spots for power consumption.

Consequently, electricity distribution companies will play a significant role and responsibility in developing the public charging network.

This move towards the utilization of renewable power follows the global trend for the greater use of EVs, based on the forecast that 50% of car sales in 2030 will be for EVs.

Global EV sales in 2020 increased by a record 43% to 3.24 million, with Europe and China becoming the biggest markets, according to recent data from EV-volumes.com, a database on global electric vehicle sales.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that with last year’s record-breaking sales, there are now more than 10 million electric cars on the road.

The number of EVs is forecasted to exceed 100 million by 2030, the IEA said.

Source
AA

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