A political agreement has been reached between the European Parliament and the Council to increase the number of publicly accessible electric recharging and hydrogen refuelling stations across the bloc, the Council of the EU announced on Tuesday (28 March).
The deal has been welcomed by the European Commission, who called it a “landmark agreement” which is expected to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030.
The new regulations on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure (AFIR) set mandatory deployment targets for electric recharging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for the road sector, shore-side electricity supply in maritime and inland waterway ports, and electricity supply to stationary aircraft.
“The agreement will send a clear signal to citizens and other stakeholders that user-friendly recharging infrastructure and refuelling stations for alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, will be installed throughout the EU. This means that more public recharging capacity will be available on the streets in urban areas as well along the motorways. Citizens will no longer have a reason to feel anxious about finding charging and refuelling stations to their electric or fuel-cell car,” Andreas Carlson, Swedish minister for infrastructure and housing.
The provisional agreement retains the fundamental aspects of the Commission’s proposal, particularly those related to climate protection. For example, AFIR includes requirements for the total power capacity to be provided based on the size of the registered fleet and the trans-European network-transport (TEN-T) coverage requirements in 2025 and 2030 (for recharging light electric vehicles).
It also includes requirements for TEN-T coverage by 2030, starting in 2025 for electric heavy-duty vehicles (for recharging electric heavy-duty vehicles and hydrogen refuelling), and requirements for TEN-T coverage by 2030, starting in 2025 for electric heavy-duty vehicles. Requirements for the supply of electricity to ships at the quayside in ports be applicable from 2030.
Legislating a minimum of recharging and refuelling infrastructure available across the EU will “end consumer concerns about the difficulty to recharge or refuel a vehicle,” the Commission said.
The political agreement is now subject to formal approval by the two EU co-legislators.
