Source: CNA
The promotion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure will create the green and sustainable cities and communities of tomorrow said the Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Yiannis Karousos, in a speech during the presentation of public e-point charging stations of the Municipality of Nicosia, at the opening of a station at the junction of Stasandrou and Agias Elenis street. The Minister's address was delivered by the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, Yiannis Nicolaides.
The installation of free vehicle charging stations in public places in the capital is an initiative of the Pilakoutas group and Troodos Electric Cables Ltd, with the support of Nicosia Municipality.
Karousos stated that the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works attaches great importance to the construction of such projects, regardless of who implements them, as they aim to implement the environmental obligations of the Republic of Cyprus to reduce emissions of gaseous pollutants and to achieve the new European energy and climate targets.
He added that weaning transport from fossil fuels is one of the Ministry's biggest challenges, with the first objective being the substantial development of electrification on the island. The promotion of electric mobility, he said, is a complex project and in this direction, the Ministry adopted a General Policy Framework, which includes the strategic objectives, the necessary actions to establish the relevant legislative framework and the definition of the necessary organizational structure, as well as, the measures to be taken to achieve the objectives that will bring about the common benefit. He also noted that in this General Policy Framework, the responsibilities and actions per agency and Ministry are defined.
In addition, he said, the Ministry in its effort to promote charging infrastructure, due to the limited interest at this stage in the development of publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations by the private sector, included additional investments in the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The Mayor of Nicosia, Constantinos Yiorkadjis, stated that our vision is a cleaner, more sustainable city for the benefit of everyone, as well as future generations. “This means we need to minimize the city's ecological footprint by reducing pollution from cars and facilitating access to other environmentally friendly forms of transport. Electric vehicles are a step in that direction," he said.
The Head of Business Strategy of the Charalambos Pilakoutas group, Stalo Pilakouta, speaking on behalf of the two companies, stated that the goal is the implementation of the e-points Cyprus initiative. The purpose, Pilakouta added, is to supply and install a network of e-point electric chargers throughout Cyprus, taking over all the costs of the equipment and its installation. A feature of this action, she continued, is the cooperation with local government agencies and organizations that multiply the impact of this effort.
