On February 22, the Lviv City Council and the Better Regulation Delivery Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the development of infrastructure for EV charging stations. The Concept of EV Charging Stations Market Development in Ukraine developed by BRDO was also presented during the event.
BRDO analyzed in detail the regulation of this segment and identified barriers to the market development that cannot be eliminated at the level of secondary legislation. With a view to developing the necessary regulatory framework for the EV charging stations market and its integration with the electricity market, BRDO developed the relevant Concept. In December 2017, this document was presented in Kyiv and further finalized taking into account the proposals of market participants.
Currently, one of the main obstacles to the use of electric cars in Ukraine is the poor infrastructure of EV charging stations. The use of electric cars requires resolving a number of problematic issues related to their maintenance and service at the legislative level: creating transparent conditions of connection to electricity networks, defining the product in the market, harmonizing infrastructure and software solutions, etc.
Even though the number of electric vehicles has increased by 130 times in Ukraine during 2013-2017, only 4,960 cars of such a type were registered as of the end of last year. This is less than 0.16% of the total number of passenger vehicles. For example, in Norway, every 21st passenger car is an electric car, and in Japan – every 117th. EV charging stations, estimating from 600 to 1,500, are located mainly in central cities of the regions and do not meet the needs of owners of electric cars for a reliable and extensive infrastructure.
“Given a large nuclear generation share in the energy mix, electric vehicles could be a factor for reducing the state’s energy dependence, but it requires infrastructure development. Effective regulation will allow the market to level the load on Ukrainian IES (integrated electricity systems) and improve the environmental situation by reducing emissions. In Ukraine, the development of this sector requires creating a regulatory framework for the market of EV charging stations, so the Concept proposes its regulatory model. The next step is an resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers to implement it,” the BRDO’s Energy Sector Head Oleksiy Orzhel said during the presentation of the Concept.
In line with the Concept implementation, local authorities play a significant role. It is necessary to define topical goals on the EV charging stations infrastructure development on regional and municipal levels to be taken into account when developing and approving urban planning documents as well as create opportunities for online procedures necessary to set up and use electric charging stations. So, on January 5, 2018, the executive committee of the Lviv City Council approved the Concept for electromobility development in Lviv.
“Lviv was the first city in Ukraine where the concept of electromobility was adopted. It is important for us, because we have set very clear environmental goals, in particular, on infrastructure development. This is one of Lviv goals 2020. The next step is to develop very detailed plan of achieving these goals. Today’s event gives us additional support for the infrastructure development, and we are grateful to our colleagues from the Better Regulation Delivery Office for their contribution,” said Andriy Moskalenko, the Deputy Head on Development of Lviv City Council.
In particular, the Concept of EV Charging Stations Market Develpment suggests:
- Developing a unified infrastructure: equipping up to 20% of parking lots with ECS by 2030.
- Free access of electricity suppliers and consumers to EV charging stations.
- Making it possible to buy and sell electricity online.
- Encouraging consumers to inclusively participate in electricity markets, in particular, in terms of the regulation of daily electricity load.
- Transparent procedures for cooperation of EV charging stations operators with local authorities, simplifying the procedure for obtaining permits and related documents.
Moreover, the Concept provides for a full digitalization of the process. For example, by using a single app, any user will be able to automatically find a station, track free parking lots with electric charging units, get information on prices for related services, etc.
It is planned that the Concept will be implemented in three stages during 2018-2030. In the first stage, starting from the date of its approval till January 1, 2019, it is envisaged:
- to approve an action plan of Concept implementation by the CMU;
- to adopt necessary regulatory acts and technical standards for its implementation.
“It is very important that last year the Law on the Electricity Market was finally adopted. This is the basis on which we can introduce promising markets, in particular, the market of charging stations for electric cars,” said Lev Pidlisetskyi, the Member of the Parliament of Ukraine, who also participated in the event.
Currently, BRDO is developing a CMU’s draft resolution on approval of the Concept of state policy in development of the infrastructure of EV charging stations. According to BRDO experts, if the Concept is implemented by 2030, there will be 600 thousand electric cars in Ukraine.
The event was moderated by the Head of the IT Department of the Lviv City Council Marta Romanyak, the founder of Tesla Club Ukraine Nazar Shimone-Davida, business, public, and media representatives.
In addition, a business case “EV Charging Station”, which provides step-by-step instructions on starting this type of business in Ukraine, was created on the PRO Platform for Effective Regulation.
For information:
The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the State Regulatory Service initiated public consultations as an essential element of the regulatory reform to make the business rules more effective and clear and the process of their adoption – transparent and public. The independent BRDO analytical center is organizing public consultations and developing analytical materials as part of the EU4Business/FORBIZ initiative.