Cargills and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Sri Lanka Energy Program signed a grant agreement to pioneer electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across multiple Cargills Food City locations in Colombo.
The grant is for a pilot project for renewable energy powered charging stations for electric three-wheelers/two-wheelers through the nation’s largest supermarket chain.
The EV charging stations will be made available at six Cargills FoodCity outlets in the Colombo district, at Bloemendhal Road, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Green Path, Duplication Road, Norris Canal Road and Dematagoda, making Cargills the first supermarket chain in Sri Lanka to offer an EV charging infrastructure in multiple retail locations. The charging units will be supplied by ChargeNET, a leading supplier of EV charging infrastructure in the country.
The USAID Sri Lanka Energy Program has identified the development and implementation of renewable energy powered EV charging stations as a much needed infrastructure support to advance E-mobility in the country.
“The transportation sector is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Sri Lanka,” said Chief of Party, the USAID Sri Lanka Energy Program, Rick Whitaker. “Transitioning to electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers will help mitigate the negative environmental impact, reduce dependance on fossil fuels and minimize the foreign exchange outflows for fuel. Therefore, our Sri Lanka Energy Program was happy to support this innovative initiative that supports the use of renewable energy to advance sustainable E-mobility in the country,” he said.
Head of Sustainability, Cargills, Sukitha Arangallage said, “Taking into account our island-wide reach, we are delighted to be able to support Sri Lanka’s transition to renewable energy powered transport. We are confident in our ability to play a key role in this endeavor and trust that the results of the pilot program will help in the wider vision to expand the project across the country in due course.”