The prime proposal of „The E-mobility White Paper” by PSPA concerning the introduction of E-tariff has just entered the execution phase. On 20th August the government legislation website published the draft resolution of the Minister of Climate amending the resolution on specific principles of fixing and calculating tariffs and on settlements in energy trade. The amendment is introducing a new group of tariffs dedicated specifically to publicly accessible charging stations and by doing so it is removing one of the major barriers to the development of e-mobility in Poland.
High fixed distribution charges take a painful toll on the operators of publicly accessible charging stations in Poland. Taking into account fairly low demand for the service they generate costs which are disproportionately high and consequently they negatively affect the profitability of existing stations and hinder the investments in new infrastructure.
– Introduction of E-Tariff will facilitate the maintenance and growth of the charging infrastructure in Poland. Increased flexible distribution charges instead of fixed distribution charges better reflect the costs of running a charging station in the early stages of the market development
– says Maciej Mazur, the Managing Director of PSPA.
The structure of the new tariff is built on shifting the cost burden from the fixed element to the flexible element tied to the actual utilization of the charging infrastructure. The fixed distribution charge depending on station capacity is removed while a flexible distribution charge related to actual energy used by a station is increased threefold. The key change is removing the fixed charge for guaranteed contracted capacity.
Considering still low demand and high fixed costs, which is the Polish reality today, achieving the turnover that allows profitability is virtually impossible. The problem mostly applies to DC stations above 40kW which are covered with the C2x tariff. The tariff imposes fixed charges for contracted capacity three times as high as in the case of C1x tariff (applicable to contracted capacity below 40kW). It also affects a large group of AC stations with two 22kW charging points allowing two vehicles to charge simultaneously. Since the total capacity of the station amounts to 44kW it falls under this C2x tariff. In general it applies to a high proportion of charging stations in Poland, meaning it is virtually impossible to reach the point of profitability even with very optimistic assumptions on the utilization of the station. Introducing the dedicated tariff will be the long-awaited breakthrough on the market of charging services.
– E-Tariff is a significant factor supporting the development of e-mobility in Poland. Its introduction will help operators offer a noticeably better service of charging EVs. All GreenWay stations connected to the grid have their capacity reduced to 40kW. After the E-Tariff comes into force their charging capacity may be increased to 50kW and in the case of many new stations even to 100 or 150 kW – says Rafał Czyżewski, CEO of Prezes GreenWay Polska.
The solution of identifying the dedicated tariff groups for publicly accessible charging stations was proposed by PSPA in cooperation with PSPA members and its partners.
We first proposed the introduction of E-Tariff in April 2019 submitting the description of the proposed solution and its justification to the Minister of Energy. This industry dialogue was successfully continued with the newly appointed Minister of Climate, Michał Kurtyka, whose scope of competence included e-mobility issues.
– Introducing the separate E-Tariff group is one of the key proposals of “E-Mobility White Paper” by PSPA. Within this project, together with the Polish industry of sustainable transport, we identified major barriers to the development of fledgling e-mobility market in Poland and we suggested the best possible solutions. It was with great satisfaction that we welcomed the introduction of the E-Tariff by the government. We hope the process of implementing the E-Tariff will move forward smoothly and the draft solution will come into force without delay – adds Maciej Mazur, CEO of PSPA.
Projekt przepisów wdrażających E-Taryfę
dostępny jest pod adresem: https://legislacja.gov.pl/projekt/12337303/katalog/12710946#12710946
