Norway’s economic development agency Enova has launched a funding programme to build charging infrastructure for heavy-duty electric commercial vehicles in the country. Funding is available for the construction of charging locations with at least four connections, each offering 350 kW of power.
Support can be up to 80 per cent of the approved costs, limited to ten million NOK (equivalent to 856,000 euros). The programme is organised as a competition and has up to four application deadlines per year, with the first deadline ending on 16 October 2023. Depending on market developments, Enova plans for the support programme to run until the summer of 2025.
Although Norway is known around the world as a pioneer in the adoption of electric cars and their charging infrastructure, there is a “barely developed infrastructure” for charging heavy vehicles in Norway, as Enova states in its communication. Footage of electric tractor-trailers (by necessity) unhitching their trailers and then charging at the HPC infrastructure for the electric cars is known from the internet. However, according to Enova, the lack of truck charging infrastructure is also due to the market, which has so far only relied on electric trucks to a small extent – because diesel trucks often still have a lower total cost of ownership.
The subsidy programme that has now been launched is intended to promote the use and thus indirectly the purchase of heavy electric vehicles. “The programme will contribute to the use of electric vehicles on longer transport routes and in cases where the daily mileage of the vehicles exceeds the expected range,” says Marie Tranaas Skjærvik, marketing manager at Enova.
However, heavy (and above all often long) electric trucks have different requirements for a charging station than cars. Since manoeuvring requires a lot of space, the charging stations common with cars are impractical at the head of the parking space. Charging parks built according to the drive-through principle must also be adapted for trucks so that the long vehicles do not block other charging stations. However, it will only become economically attractive for charging operators to invest in their own electric truck charging parks as the market share of heavy electric vehicles increases. “At this stage, Enova comes in with support to stimulate the construction of stations faster than would otherwise be the case, while at the same time there is the prospect that this market can stand on its own feet in a short time,” Skjærvik emphasises.
In April, Enova launched two programmes to contribute to reduced emissions in the construction industry. The aim is to support the use of zero-emission construction machines and mobile charging stations for their operation.
ntb.no, enova.no (both in Norwegian)
Keyword: Enova to fund truck charging infrastructure in Norway