Semarang City Hall Is Now Equipped With SPKLU Facilities

SEMARANG - Public electric vehicle charging station (SPKLU) has been built and operated in the Semarang City Hall area, Central Java to facilitate people or employees who want to charge their electric vehicles.

"Alhamdulillah, today the SPKLU has been built, a'support' from PLN in collaboration with the Semarang City Government," said Semarang Mayor Hevearita Gunaryanti Rahayu after the inauguration of the SPKLU, reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, May 2.

Ita, Hevearita's nickname, revealed that the existence of the SPKLU further complements the facilities at the Semarang City government center, both for the community and visitors to the Semarang City Hall.

According to him, the existence of the SPKLU is one of the drivers for the Semarang City Government as directed by President Joko Widodo that Indonesia could "zero emissions" by 2060.

For electric cars, he said, the Semarang City Government had actually allocated a budget for the purchase of electric cars in 2022, but at that time the stock of goods was not available so it had not been realized.

"Actually, in 2022, as soon as there was an instruction from the president, the local government was asked to allocate an electric car budget. But apparently, when the city government budgeted for the goods, it didn't exist," he said.

Meanwhile, General Manager of PLN Central Java and DI Yogyakarta Distribution Main Units, AM Wahyu Jatmiko, said Semarang had SPKLUs in 19 locations. Currently, there are three units that are still in development progress.

The existence of SKPLU is an anticipation for electric vehicle owners if they travel, because every purchase of electric vehicles is basically equipped with a charging device at home.

"Actually, if the electric vehicle is already in one package, they can 'criticize' at home. Those who have electric vehicles at home are already full in the morning. So, this (SPKLU, ed.) is only anticipating if they travel," he said.

For SPKLU at Semarang City Hall, he said, it has a strong charging capacity of 200 kVA so that it can charge electric vehicle batteries to full in just 30 minutes.

"The capacity (SPKLU, red.) is 200 kVA, this is the fastest. One vehicle, an electric motorbike, if 30 minutes it can be 'full'. But this charging is like a gasoline car, right, it doesn't have to be 'full', it can be half," he concluded.