By Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz
The European Commission has approved funding for some 20 projects to modernize and develop alternative charging solutions. This should result in the creation of 5,700 electric charging points in 1,400 dedicated stations and about 50 hydrogen refueling stations over the next three years.
The European Commission has approved funding for some 20 projects to modernize and develop alternative charging solutions. This should result in the creation of 5,700 electric charging points in 1,400 dedicated stations and about 50 hydrogen refueling stations over the next three years.
Nearly €300 million has been made available for 24 alternative charging infrastructure projects across Europe.
One of the biggest expansion projects concerns Ionity, which is keen to grow its network of electric charging stations and increase its performance. Its goal is to deploy just over 1,000 charging points, 95% of which will be 350 kW chargers, at nearly 200 sites in 13 countries. Most of them will be located along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Similarly, the Expand-E Cohesion project plans to install 1,100 charging points with a power rating of over 150 kW at more than 260 sites in 10 countries. While the first project will mainly equip Western and Northern Europe, the second will focus on the East.
In practice, all the projects involve the installation of electric charging stations and hydrogen refueling stations. France counts six such projects, including one from the Paris region's public transport operator, RATP to convert a bus depot in the suburb of Malakoff to operate exclusively with electric buses. Meanwhile, in the southern city of Montpellier, another project aims to deploy power points for airplanes in addition to the construction of a recharging station with 30 terminals for ground support vehicles.
When it comes to hydrogen, several French projects will also be partly financed by the EU, such as the deployment of two green hydrogen production and distribution stations in Dijon for the city's vehicles, or the implementation of a network of 10 filling stations in Paris and its suburbs.
