Electric cars will charge public lighting lamps in Prague. This is how the capital responds to the increase in electric cars
Author: Anina Russová – Source and photo: Technology of the Capital City of Prague – 24/10/2022
Public lighting lamps will also be a public charging point for electric cars. This should be a reality in the capital in a few years. The administrator of public lighting, Technology of the City of Prague (THMP), as part of the renovation, replaces part of the ordinary lamps with so-called EV ready ones, i.e. ready for immediate installation with charging stations for electric cars.
“The electric car boom has not yet occurred in our country, but their number is growing rapidly from year to year. It is assumed that there will be up to 200,000 of them in Prague in 2030. The entire project is thus a preparation for the future. When there is a need for more charging stations in the given locations, we are ready to install them immediately. EV ready lamps currently serve as ordinary public lighting, but the preparation is underground,” said councilor hl. m of Prague for the Jan Chabr property area.
Placing charging stations on public lighting poles will save the city not only space, but also costs. The reason is cooperation with the operator of the distribution system PREdistribution. “Within the joint network project for the synergistic renewal of the distribution low voltage and the Prague lighting network. This significantly reduces the cost of building the preparation for charging stations.” explained Tomáš Jílek, chairman of the board of THMP, and added that the benefit is also the minimization of the time after which citizens will be restricted by the fact that Prague will be excavated.
THMP has already installed the first 13 lamps ready for future charging of electric cars as part of a pilot project in Vinohrady. He wants to equip them with charging stations by the end of this year. Other EV ready lamps are already in Prosek and Vokovice. Work on their location then continues at Hájy, Kamýk and Černý Most. The plans also include the locations of Bohnice, Vršovice, Vinohrady, Velká Ohrada, Dvorce, Kobylisy and Chodovec. In the long term, then Libeň, Břevnov, Vysočany, Žižkov, Holešovice, Nusle or Bubeneč.
Two electric cars will be able to be charged simultaneously from one lamp. Each will be equipped with a charging station with a power of up to 44 kW. “If there is sufficient free capacity of the distribution network at the location of the lamp, the output of the station will be the aforementioned 44 kW. Otherwise, 22 kW. It must be added that the performance of the stations is significantly higher than we are in other European cities. It is precisely for this reason that we do not use standard cables for powering public lighting, but connect the lamp directly from the distribution system,” concluded Tomáš Jílek.
Labels: charging, electric car charging, electric car, electromobility, lamp, public lighting lamp, Prague, public lighting