Prague wants to use EU funds to build EV chargers as well

Prague wants to seek European funding to build chargers for electric vehicles. The Czech News Agency (ČTK) was informed of the decision by city councillors on Monday in a press release today by city spokesperson Vít Hofman. The city, or rather its company Operátor ICT (OICT), is also preparing a concession tender for a charging-station operator. The city plans to install chargers mainly in streetlights.

The city wants to use the Transport Operational Programme to fund construction, under a planned call focused on alternative-fuels infrastructure with an allocation of up to 500 million crowns. The call is scheduled to be launched in the coming months, according to the approved document. City Hall expects European funding to cover up to 85 percent of the planned investment costs.

„A project proposal will now be drawn up to support the city’s application for EU funding. If it turns out that the Transport Operational Programme is not the right solution, we will look for other available funding schemes,” said Deputy Mayor for Transport Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates).

Based on a decision by the previous city council, OICT is preparing a concession tender for an operator of the planned charging infrastructure. According to the approved document, the original plan was for the operator to also procure the chargers. However, given the possibility of obtaining European funding, they will probably ultimately be owned by the city.

„In terms of how the funding scheme can be used, the most suitable option appears to be for the City of Prague to apply for the grant and thus acquire the charging infrastructure directly into its ownership,“ the explanatory note to Monday’s resolution states.

„Once the city has approved the public tender, the first charging stations under the concession could be brought into operation in the middle of next year,“ added OICT Deputy Chairman of the Board Petr Suška.

Prague is already having technology installed in some streetlights to enable chargers for electric vehicles to be fitted in the future. The city councillors recently approved an investment of 120 million crowns to renovate 852 streetlights at six locations, 172 of which will also be adapted for the future installation of chargers.

The first streetlights with charging stations were installed in Vinohrady, where the city-owned company Technologie hlavního města Prahy launched 13 charging stations with a total of 25 charging points on a trial basis last year. The city estimates that 180,000 electric vehicles will be on Prague’s roads by 2030, and 4,500 chargers will be needed to serve them.