Rapid growth of e-mobility in Poland through substantive cooperation

On Monday, 29th November 2021, we took part in an industry meeting organised by the Polish Alternative Fuels Association and the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. The main topic of the meeting which took place in the Powiśle Power Plant in Warsaw were perspectives of electromobility development in Poland, especially electric vehicle charging infrastructure. There was also presented the offer of financial support for the industry under the new program of NFEP&WM, and also an exhibition of achievements in charging technology. The meeting was attended, among others, by Deputy Minister of Climate and Environment Adam Guibourgé-Czetwertyński, Maciej Mazur, Managing Director of the Polish Alternative Fuels Association, members of the Management Board of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management and representatives of associations and companies from electromobility sector.

Estimates indicate that the number of zero-emission vehicles will grow rapidly in Poland, which is directly related to the implementation of NFOŚiGW programmes, such as “My Electric” or “Green Public Transport”. Natural course of things will be parallel development of charging infrastructure, which is reflected in mentioned priority program prepared by NFOŚiGW. Its implementation should significantly increase the availability of chargers, especially in small and medium towns.

At present in Poland operate about 1700 electric vehicle charging stations of which a little over 30 percent are direct current (DC) chargers and almost 70 percent are free alternating current (AC) chargers with power less than or equal to 22 kW.

Participants of the meeting also got acquainted with the detailed assumptions of the already mentioned new priority program of NFOŚiGW “Support for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure”. The budget of this program is 870 million PLN, and under this program, non-refundable grants for the construction of infrastructure will be available to local governments, companies, cooperatives and housing communities. Its objective is to promote the use of zero-emission vehicles in Poland and at the same time to strengthen the domestic industry and services sector, particularly in sectors that support electromobility, such as the chemical, electrotechnical and metal industries, in particular the manufacture of batteries and chargers, hydrogen production, and the manufacture of electric vehicles and chargers, hydrogen production and information technologies.

The meeting at the Powiśle Power Plant was a manifestation of substantive and expert cooperation between public institutions and industry representatives.