Kazakhstan has launched the first autonomous solar-powered electric vehicle charging station in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with the facility now operating in Astana.


The station runs entirely on solar energy and operates independently of the city’s power grid, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Ecology said.


The facility has a charging capacity of 100 kilowatts and is equipped with a 645-kilowatt-hour energy storage system. The ministry said the storage capacity theoretically allows the station to operate at full capacity for around six hours without sunlight.


The authorities plan to expand the initiative by establishing a network of similar solar-powered charging stations across Kazakhstan.


By Vafa Guliyeva