Charging electric vehicles in Macao will get easier by the end of the year, when CEM will increase the number of public charging stations from 495 to 2,000.
Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council member Leong Chon Kit said that the charging points are mainly in the city’s public car parks run by the Transport Bureau (DSAT) and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM).
Leong noted that most of the 2,000 charging stations will be slow-charging, adding that most vehicle owners had switched to slow-charging since charging for electric vehicles came into effect in July, which has exceeded demand for fast-charging.
The Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) has issued guidelines on applications for charging stations in private car parks, Leong said, noting that as of Sunday, CEM had received 208 applications, of which 155 had already installed electricity meters at their respective car parks.
Leong pointed out that among the 495 existing charging stations, 74 per cent were installed in the Macao peninsula, while Taipa and Coloane accounted for 17 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.
In related news, CEM is continuing its campaign to upgrade the communal electrical installations in “three-nil” buildings – meaning those with no owners’ corporation, tenants’ organisation or property management company – by providing MOP 30 million in subsidies.
Lam Ka Chun, the council’s deputy convener, said that CEM had received applications from 734 “three-nil” buildings of less than seven storeys aged over 30 years, of which 24 had been upgraded and 25 buildings had been approved for construction, with participation rate of 11.4 per cent of such buildings, involving 1,913 households.
Thirdly, fellow council member Lo Chung Yee noted that the number of border crossings between Macao and mainland China via Hengqin checkpoint has reached 7.38 million in the past two years, while the number of vehicles has exceeded 1.04 million, including 700,000 Macao vehicles with a single licence plate, causing serious traffic congestion at the checkpoint.
In view of the continuous increase in the number of vehicles entering and exiting Macao and mainland China via Hengqin checkpoint, Lo urged the government to consider adding extra customs and immigration clearance channels at the checkpoint, as well as adding an electronic screen on the main road before the final junction at Lotus Bridge, and reopening two lanes on the bridge in each direction.
Lo also urged the government to coordinate with mainland Chinese law enforcement officers in directing the traffic at the checkpoint during peak hours and assisting in the vehicles’ customs clearance, The Macau Post Daily reported.
