EU passes AFIR bill: achieving full coverage of charging stations and hydrogen refueling stations

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have reached an agreement to increase the number of public charging and hydrogen refueling stations along the EU's main transport corridors and hubs.

This is a landmark agreement that will enable the EU’s transition to zero-emission transport and help achieve its target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Deployment Regulation (AFIR) sets mandatory deployment targets for charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure in the road sector, shore-side power supply in maritime and inland waterway ports, and power supply for aircraft.

By providing a minimum charging and refuelling infrastructure across the EU, the regulation will remove consumer concerns about the difficulty of charging or refuelling their cars. AFIR also paves the way for a user-friendly charging and refuelling experience, with full price transparency, a common minimum payment option and consistent customer information across the EU.

The new AFIR rules will ensure adequate, user-friendly alternative fuel infrastructure for roads, shipping and aviation. This will enable the use of zero-emission road vehicles, in particular electric and hydrogen-fuelled light and heavy vehicles, as well as providing electricity for parked ships and aircraft.

Specifically, the following major deployment goals will be achieved by 2025 or 2030:

1) The charging infrastructure for cars and trucks must grow in tandem with vehicle usage. To this end, in each member state, each registered electric vehicle must be provided with a power output of 1.3 kW by public charging infrastructure. In addition, from 2025, the Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) network will need to install fast charging stations with a capacity of at least 150 kW every 60 km.

2) Starting from 2025, a charging station dedicated to heavy vehicles with a minimum output of 350KW will be deployed every 60 kilometers on the TEN-T core network, and every 100 kilometers on the larger TEN-T integrated network, achieving full network coverage by 2030. In addition, charging stations must be installed in safe parking areas for nighttime charging and for delivery vehicles at urban nodes.

3) From 2030, a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure capable of serving passenger cars and trucks must be deployed every 200 km at all urban nodes and along the TEN-T core network to ensure a sufficiently dense hydrogen refuelling network to allow hydrogen vehicles to travel throughout the EU.

4) By 2030, ports with more than 50 large passenger ship calls or more than 100 container ship calls must provide shore power for large passenger ships. This will not only help reduce the carbon footprint of maritime transport, but also significantly reduce air pollution in port areas.

5) By 2025, airports must provide power to all parked aircraft in contact parking stands (gates), and by 2030, airports must provide power to all parked aircraft in remote parking stands (outfield locations).

6) Charging station and hydrogen refueling station operators must ensure full price transparency, offer a common payment method such as debit or credit card, and provide relevant data by electronic means, such as on-site data, to ensure that customers are fully informed.

(Source: European Council, Global Energy Storage Network, Global Hydrogen Energy Network, New Energy Network)