In the port of Ghent, Elektrapel has opened a charging station for electric cars that runs entirely on wind energy. It is connected to three new windmills recently placed next to the R4. It should produce about 33,000 megawatt-hours per year. This corresponds to the annual power requirements of about 11,000 electric vehicles.
The station has two fast charging points for electronic cars. If two cars are charged at the same time, this will happen at a speed of 175 kW. This means that about 200 km of electricity can be recharged in 20 minutes or less – although this depends on the charging capabilities of the car. Not all cars support such speeds. Also, the charging speed usually decreases when the battery becomes full.
If only one car is charged, the speed can reach 350 kW. That should add 100 kilometers in eight minutes, but there are no cars on the market that support such a high speed. According to Electrabel, the charging station is “ready for electric cars of the future.”
The pilot project will also be used as a test setup for Laborelec, the research center of parent company Engie. It wants to collect the data “to disseminate it further in strategic locations throughout Belgium”.
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