Qatar launches electric vehicles and charging infrastructure guideline

Doha: Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) represented by the National Program for Conservation and Energy Efficiency (Tarsheed) has launched the Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure Guideline in the State of Qatar on its website.

This guideline comes to support the establishment of the infrastructure regulations for electric vehicles in the country which will encourage the spread of these types of vehicles. This will contribute to the diversification of energy sources and the reduction of carbon emissions in the country.

The guide answers all questions related to the installation of electric vehicle charging units for both the government and private sectors, especially with regard to the selection of chargers, types of charging equipment, and general specifications and that must be available in any charger, including charging capacity, charging current, payment collection options, screen and display, charge-point protocol, IP rating, connection quality and warranty for hardware.

The guide also reviews the different capacities of charging stations and their suitability according to each location.

Kahramaa encourages the use of DC chargers for public places that take less than an hour to charge and may reach less than half an hour depending on the capacity of the device, which greatly affects the charging time.

For example, it is not recommended to install AC devices in public places that need fast charging. For example a device with a capacity of 11 kilowatts AC, can only be installed in places where the car can be parked for a period of more than six hours, such as if the car owner resides in a hotel, or lives in one of the residential developer's towers who can stay overnight or wait for that long period of time.

The guide can be downloaded from Kahramaa’s website: km.qa.

The joint work team between Kahramaa and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications issued this guideline and its technical specifications for chargers and infrastructure equipment is approved by Kahramaa, the exclusive provider of electricity in the country, as a supportive step to inform those who wish to install charging units for electric vehicles, whether in the governmental, commercial or industrial sectors.

The joint team between Kahramaa represented by the Conservation and Energy Efficiency Department and the Ministry of Transportation and Communication represented by the Technical Affairs Department, receives many requests to install charging units from different entities in the country. Its role is to ensure that all requests comply with the standards and specifications and are in line with the state’s plans set in this regard to implement electric vehicles strategy. Interested entities can contact the team to check requests on the e-mail: [email protected] The team will soon announce the online submission link to study all incoming applications.

As seen on Peninsula Qatar  Image Credits Peninsula Qatar