– Joy for the proposal – E24

On Wednesday, NVE submitted a tight proposal for a new network rental, after receiving criticism that a previous proposal from February was too complicated and, among other things, did not sufficiently take into account the charging infrastructure of electric cars.

The new NVE proposal establishes, among other things, that companies with a consumption of less than 100,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year will receive rent from the network on equal terms with households. This will make renting the network much more favorable for charging stations in the districts than it is today.

– We are happy about the proposal that came up when it comes to fast charging, says general manager Christina Bu from the Norwegian Association of Electric Cars to E24.

She says there was almost nothing overcharging on NVE’s first proposal, which came in February. But the Electric Car Association believes the authorities must accept that Norway will electrify the entire transport sector and plan accordingly.

– We are very happy that NVE has listened to the contributions. This makes it cheaper to build fast chargers in districts where usage is lower than in cities. We’ve been working on this for seven years and it has demanded to be heard, he says.

– Much more positive

Virke Servicehandel organizes many gas stations and also rejoices with the proposal.

– We are pleased that you have listened to our proposal and have proposed a minimum deduction, says leader Iman Winkelman at Virke Servicehandel to E24.

– It makes it easier for many of our members to expand the charging infrastructure, especially in districts where there are not yet too many electric cars. This calculation becomes more positive with the new model that has been proposed, says Winkelman.

Today, charging stations are considered commercial players and therefore have to pay a very high network rent even though they are used infrequently. If instead they are considered households, the income of the network will be completely different.

– You have an example from Lofoten where a charger is used several times a month, and then the rent from the network is 9,000 kr. Distributed to a few clients, these are completely outrageous prices. With NVE’s new proposal, the calculation will be completely different, says Virke-top.

NVE Critic

Winkelman criticizes NVE’s calculations in the first proposal, which he believes underestimated the consequences for charging infrastructure in the districts.

– The original proposal would have provided a more expensive charging infrastructure. We are surprised that NVE did not discover the scope of what they had originally submitted for consultation, and that it was the industry itself that had to discover that the calculations on the consequences had been lost, he says.

The electric car association asks for more coherence in the planning of the authorities, both in energy, industrial and transport policy.

– Now industries that have not traditionally been associated are merging, such as transportation and the electricity sector. So systems and legislation need to be adapted as soon as possible, says Bu.

– Our main concern is to make sure that there are fast chargers throughout the country, even if it is not commercially profitable in some parts of the country. We must have infrastructure everywhere if we are to succeed with green change, says Bu.

– Must understand range

One challenge is that there are many new issues in green change, and responsibility is divided among various ministries and authorities, Bru emphasizes. She notes, among other things, that NVE has not reduced greenhouse gas emissions as part of its mandate.

“Politicians and the bureaucracy must understand the scope of our plans, such as that all cars and trucks sold must be electric by 2025,” says Bu.

– I miss a more structured approach to where we are going in the transportation area. No assessments have been made of what will happen if we have a million electric cars around 2025, in addition to many electric buses and ferries. We will not achieve our goals without the infrastructure in place, he says.