State electricity authorities, automaker get on board to drive EV growth
Three electricity authorities have joined hands with automaker GWM to drive forward electric vehicle (EV) development in Thailand.
Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow on Wednesday witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA), the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and Great Wall Motor Thailand (GWM) to promote cooperation in development of EV technology and charging stations in Thailand.
The MoU signing ceremony took place at GWM Experience Centre located in Iconsiam shopping centre. The vice president of Great Wall Motor, Michael Chong, MEA governor Wilas Chaloeysat, Egat governor Boonyanit Wongrukmit, and PEA governor Supphachai Ek-Oon took part in the MoU signing ceremony.
“The MEA is a state enterprise that has been committed to promoting EV usage in Thailand for more than 10 years,” said Wilas. “The cooperation between the electricity authorities and Great Wall Motor will help prepare the country for the transition from internal combustion vehicles to electric vehicles on a large scale.”
Wilas added that the MEA will bring its experience and knowledge in EV technology that it has accumulated in the past decade to work with the PEA, Egat and GWM to promote the policies of the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee under the Ministry of Energy, which is targeting at least 30 per cent of the country’s total automotive manufacturing output by 2030 to be zero-emission vehicles.
“This goal will bring Thailand closer to a low carbon society and fast-track us towards the target of carbon neutrality by 2050, as per the government's pledge to the 26th Conference of the Parties to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) held late last year in Glasgow, Scotland,” said Wilas.
The MEA governor elaborated that under the MoU, the authority will work with EV manufacturers to build an EV ecosystem to support the use of EV among motorists in Thailand, as well as attract new users.
“Via this ecosystem, EV users will be able to exchange information regarding each model of EV, explore the locations of EV-charging stations along their travel route, and exchange knowledge related to EV topics, such as the environmental impact of reusing and recycling EV batteries.”
The MEA is currently planning to upgrade the existing power grid in big cities into a Smart Metro Grid, which will help facilitate the public’s application to install EV-charging stations for either home or business use. In the future, the MEA will also expand its EV-charging stations to cover all areas of Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan provinces. All MEA-certified stations will be listed on the MEA EV application while EV users can conveniently locate the nearest stations from their smart phones.
If you are interested in installing EV-charging stations, contact MEA Call Centre 1130, Facebook @ METROPOLITAN.ELECTRICITY.AUTHORITY, Line: MEA Connect, Twitter: @mea_news.
To download MEA EV application, head to https://onelink.to/meaev
