DAPITAN CITY -- The Department of Science and Technology – IX (DOST-IX) has approved a grant amounting to P1,859,598.00 for Dapitan City to support the LGU’s “Smart City” initiative. This was formalized during the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between DOST-IX and Local Government Unit of Dapitan City held on 16 February 2023 at the City Hall of Dapitan.

During the MOA signing ceremony, DOST-IX was represented by its Provincial Director for Zamboanga del Norte Mr. Nuhman M. Aljani while LGU-Dapitan City was represented by its City Mayor, Hon. Seth Frederick Jalosjos.

The grant supports the implementation of the project titled “Support to LGU-Dapitan Smart City Initiative through Deployment of Charging in Minutes (CharM) Technology to Achieve Efficiently and Environment-Friendly Transportation Sector.” Through the project, DOST-IX will deploy CharM technology in Dapitan City.

CharM or Charging in Minutes is a charging facility for electric vehicles. Compared to a conventional e-vehicle charger, CharM charges a lot faster. The facility can fully charge electric vehicles in 30 minutes compared to the conventional four to six hours of slow charging.

Mayor Jalosjos said they want this kind of technology to be deployed in the City in line with their effort to promote a cleaner and more efficient transportation sector. LGU-Dapitan City is working on making this heritage city a “Smart City.” One of the important components of such an initiative is having a “smart transport system,” for which the adoption of e-vehicle is a good starting point.

“We are very happy with this project,” Mayor Jalosjos quipped at the sideline of the MOA signing event.

CharM is developed by the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) through a research grant from DOST’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD). The commercialization of this technology is now managed by CHRG EV Technologies, Inc., a spin-off company from UPD.

Mr. Martin A. Wee, DOST-IX Regional Director, said the agency supports technology transfer projects or initiatives like this. “We are supportive of this project and we thank LGU Dapitan City for being our partner in this undertaking,” he stated.

With this project, LGU-Dapitan City will be able to realize its objective of running a fleet of electric tricycles (e-trike) in the City’s main thoroughfares. LGU-Dapitan City will be procuring e-trike units for the initial run.

“We will procure 20 units initially to be funded by the City Government,” Mayor Jalosjos confirmed.  “This will bring a lot of benefits to us – from boosting our tourism industry and achieving a green and clean transportation which is very good to our environment,” he added.

Under the project, Mr. Aljani confirmed that DOST will install two units of CharM facility in strategic areas in Dapitan City.  The units to be deployed are powered by a 5kW Solar Photovoltaic Hybrid System.

“The good thing about this project is that the charging facility comes with solar panels that will supply its power requirements,” Mr Aljani said.

“At least 60% to 70% of the power requirement is addressed and only the remaining 30% to 40% will be sourced from the grid. It would significantly bring down the cost of transportation,” he added. (Ricky P. Mahilum and Nuhman M. Aljani/ PSTO-ZDN Press Release)