Energy industry criticises planned German e-car charging infrastructure support

German energy company EnBW has said that planned legislation to support the expansion of e-car fast charging infrastructure will harm private investments and market competition, reports Jakob Schlandt in Tagesspiegel Background. In a letter to the transport ministry, which is set to soon present the draft law to the government cabinet, EnBW criticises “that the granting of support, in particular through the planned full support with the accompanying specifications of upper price limits for charging processes, leads to ruinous competition for the existing infrastructure”. EnBW adds that already planned new unsupported charging points might not be built, because “neither customers nor retail partners would accept higher prices than at the supported locations”. The draft law stipulates auctions for support to set up fast charging points across Germany, but does not specify the exact procedure, writes Tagesspiegel.

E-car charging infrastructure plans have already been criticised earlier this month, after economy minister Peter Altmaier withdrew a draft law to regulate when and how distribution grid operators can temporarily reduce power supply to new consumers, such as e-car charging stations, heat pumps and battery storages, to avoid grid problems and expensive extensions to the power grid. The take-up of electric vehicles has been slow in Germany, but thanks to new government incentives, registrations have picked up sharply in recent months, leading to record new registrations.