EV charging stations report sharp increase in electricity intake
Charging stations for electric cars around the Czech Republic are reporting a sharp increase in electricity intake, Czech Radio reported on Friday. The Czech state-owned energy producer ČEZ, which currently controls around half of the charging stations, says consumption of electricity in the first six months of 2019 has nearly doubled year-on-year, reaching 828 869 kWh. Other companies are reporting similar growth.
According to the spokeswoman of the German electricity giant E.ON, Martina Slavíková, the biggest electricity consumption is in Prague.
“This is due to the highest concentration of electric vehicles in the capital. But there are other localities, such as the town of Jihlava and the whole region of Bohemian-Moravian highlands,” she told Czech Radio.
According to Tomáš Chmelík, head of Clean Technologies department at ČEZ, the number of loadings at the country’s electricity charging stations amounted to 66,258 within the first six months of 2019. Last year the total figure amounted to 75,584, while in 2017, it was just 35,902.
There are currently around 400 charging stations around the country. The Ministry of Transport aims to spend some 800 million crowns by 2023 on the construction of another 500 charging stations.
The companies, which operate the charging stations, including ČEZ, E.ON and PRE, are planning to enlarge their networks in the future.
“We would like to have more than 200 stations by the end of the year. In the following years we would like to speed up the process of their construction, from the current 50 stations a year to 70 or more a year.” Mr Chmelík said.
There are currently some 3000 electric vehicles registered in the Czech Republic. Experts predict there could be up to half a million electricity-powered cars by 2030.
