122 new charging points for electric vehicles to be built in Estonia

122 new charging points for electric vehicles will be built in 60 locations across Estonia. Photo: Marko Saarm

With the support of the European Union, 122 new charging points for electric vehicles will be built in 60 locations across Estonia.

From Estonia, support was allocated to the companies Enefit Volt, Eleport and Elektrum. Of these, Eleport is also contributing to the construction of charging infrastructure in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, where more than 500 new electric charging points will be set up in the coming years, the Ministry of Climate said.

According to Climate Minister Kristen Michal, the use of electric cars is a growing trend in Estonia.

«Compared to a year ago, the number of first registrations of electric cars in Estonia has increased by 21 percent. There are already more than 500 charging points for electric vehicles in Estonia, the demand for them is growing and we have to keep up with it. Estonian entrepreneurs have seized the opportunity to participate in the supply of cleaner fuels -- this promotes the introduction of more economical vehicles and helps to move more powerfully towards meeting the climate goals,» the minister said.

Support is allocated from the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The application round supports projects that aim to promote the infrastructure of alternative fuels in the European Union, including the construction of high-speed charging points for electric cars and hydrogen infrastructure. A total of 352 million euros will be invested from the last application round to build approximately 12,000 charging points for electric vehicles across the EU.

The construction of over 22,000 charging points has been supported with the four application rounds that have taken place so far. The fifth application round of the program is open and the deadline for submitting applications is Nov. 7 this year -- more information can be found on the European Commission's website.

In addition, there is an application round open for the purchase of zero-emission vehicles, additional information on this is available on the website of the Estonian Environmental Investment Center.