Ningxia celebrated the start of construction of the province's first charging station for electric cars in Ningdong Town, Yinchuan City on May 25.

The Ningdong facility is designed to provide battery charging and changing services to 20 electric passenger cars at a time, said Gai Xinwu, head of the Ningdong Electricity Board, responsible for constructing the charging station. He predicted a battery swap for each vehicle would take less than 10 minutes each.

With a total investment of 28 million yuan (US$ 4.7 million), the project is scheduled to begin operation in August this year.

The station will "boost the development of Ningxia electric automobile industry as well as a low-carbon economy by saving energy and reducing emissions in a deeper way," said Liu Yunlong, vice general manager of Ningxia Power Company, at the groundbreaking ceremony.

So far, the company has installed two charging piles in the town and will install another 10 piles in the area this year.