The first-ever solar-powered easy bike charging station in the country is going to be inaugurated today.
Food Minister Md Qamrul Islam will inaugurate the station as chief guest at Keraniganj area of the capital, while State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid will attend the ceremony as a special guest.
The government has taken the initiative on an experimental basis in cooperation with and financed by The Rural Electrification Board of Bangladesh (REB) to reduce the increasing pressure on the national grid.
REB officials said the construction of the station cost around Tk50 lakh. It has been set up at the rooftop of Sunny Filling Station in Ruhitpur area in Keraniganj, so there was no need to acquire land for it, they said.
Initially the station has the provision and capacity to provide charging facility to 20-22 easy bikes at a time. Easy bike owners will be initially charged Tk50 per charging.
Though it is being inaugurated today, the station has already been providing service to the local easy bikes on an experimental basis.
Md Rabiul Hossain, general manager at Dhaka Palli Bidyut Samity 2, said: “We have been providing service for the last few days and the feedback that we have received so far is positive.” However the service is better when there is sunlight, he added.
Rabiul further said easy bike riders usually come to charge their vehicles at night. “They are provided fully charged batteries when they come; the batteries get charged by sunlight during the day.”
