Czech utility Teplárny Brno to build 50 more EV chargers next year

Teplárny Brno is accelerating the rollout of charging stations for electric vehicles and plans to build another 50 next year. This is the third year it has been building them, and today it opened its 80th charging station, located next to the newly renovated Lužánky swimming pools. Next year, it also plans to set up two charging hubs, or sites with a larger number of stations, Tom Kratochvíl, head of the e-mobility project at Teplárny Brno, told reporters today.

„A charging hub can be imagined as a site with a high concentration of charging points, offering slow, fast and ultra-fast charging. We plan to build one at our Červený mlýn facility, where we will also test various technologies,“ Kratochvíl outlined the plans.

„Teplárny Brno supplies its chargers with electricity it generates itself, for example at solar power plants. One thing we want to test is dynamic pricing: if it is clear that the sun will shine strongly the next day and there will be a large surplus of power, we will send our users a message inviting them to come and charge at half price,“ he added.

One of the first charging hubs will be built next year in the Šumavská parking garage, which is currently under construction and has 120 spaces earmarked for electric vehicles. For now, however, there will be only 20, and Teplárny Brno will install the chargers. „Demand is not yet high enough to make it worthwhile to reserve 120 parking spaces, but as the number of electric vehicles grows, more chargers can be installed without any digging—the cables are already in place,“ Kratochvíl added.

The municipal company aims to ensure that within two years most residents of Brno will live within a five-to-ten-minute journey of the nearest electric vehicle charger. Its goal is to build 500 chargers by 2030, bringing the total to 1,000 charging points.

„For now, we are installing chargers so that the city is evenly covered, but next year we will expand some charging sites with additional chargers because they are very busy. These include sites in Líšeň and Bystrc,“ Kratochvíl said.

The volume of electricity drawn at the heating company’s charging stations has quadrupled year on year, while it is growing by approximately 25 percent from month to month. Teplárny Brno is targeting not only the public, but also companies, which are investing the most in e-mobility.