Public chargers are a third more than a year ago, with more than 50% more power

As of 31 December 2024, 2 424 public charging points have been installed in 967 locations

Public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles has reached new all-time highs. By the end of 2024, 2,424 charging points in 967 locations were available in Slovakia for electric vehicles, representing a year-on-year increase of 34 and 31 percent respectively. The total installed capacity exceeded 125 MW, which is 52 per cent more than at the end of 2023. Interesting are also the changes in the list of public charging point operators – new names such as OMV have been added to the established players such as ZSE Drive, GreenWay or ejoin. However, operators are sounding the alarm: the legislative change brought about by the decree of the Office for Regulation of Network Industries from the New Year may make the operation of chargers so disadvantageous that they will start to shut them down en masse.

“Charging infrastructure in Slovakia continues to grow much faster than the adoption of electric vehicles,” says Patrik Križanský, director of the Slovak Electromobility Association (SEVA). “There are currently only 6 electric vehicles per public charging point in Slovakia. By comparison, in Norway, which is a European leader in electromobility despite its cold climate and complex topography, there are up to 25 vehicles per charging point. This difference illustrates the huge room for growth in the number of EVs on Slovak roads.”

Charging points were added at a satisfactory pace during 2024, despite the legislative and technical challenges posed by the AFIR. This obliged operators to adapt their stations to the new standards, including the installation of payment terminals at high-capacity chargers. “Despite these changes, operators have managed to maintain the pace of construction and expand the availability of charging points across the country,” Križanský assesses.

However, according to SEVA, it is crucial that the further development of public charging infrastructure is not jeopardised by legislative measures that could reduce the economic attractiveness of operating charging stations. “The current moves by the energy regulator raise concerns that operators could even be forced to shut down charging stations that have already been built. This would hamper the development of electromobility at a stage when Slovakia needs to catch up with other EU countries,” Križanský adds. SEVA members draw attention to the amendment to the Decree No. 154/2019 Coll., which fundamentally changes the conditions for calculating tariffs for reserved capacity. It was this decree that the ÚRSO modified three years ago as part of the binding reforms in the Recovery and Resilience Plan to make the connection and operation of chargers more flexible.

The issue is the utilization (utilization) of a charging station – that is, the percentage of time it is actively used for charging relative to the total availability of its capacity. In Western Europe, the utilisation is many times higher than in our country, while even in neighbouring Poland the utilisation is twice as high. This fact has so far been taken into account in the decree regulating the conditions for connecting chargers. Charging stations had significant discounts on the monthly fixed fee for reserved capacity, which were compensated by a higher variable part of the fee. However, the new wording of the decree in force since the New Year virtually abolishes these discounts. Operators will have to pay the full price for reserved capacity if they do not reach a capacity utilisation of at least 30%, which will be totally unrealistic in Slovakia for several years to come. “The result will be a significant increase in the regular fixed costs of operating chargers, which operators will not be able to absorb due to the low number of electric vehicles,” explains Križanský.

This could have far-reaching consequences. Operators may lose the incentive to build new charging stations, which would slow down infrastructure development at a time when Slovakia needs to expand its network to meet the objectives of the Recovery and Resilience Plan. High-performance charging stations, including ultra-fast charging hubs on motorways, which the Ministry of Economy is preparing to build by the middle of next year, will be particularly negatively affected. SEVA is therefore proposing a review of the impacts of this decree and recommends that the TSO revise tariffs to reflect the needs of the emerging electro-mobility market. “We will propose to revert the wording of the relevant part of the decree to its original form. Together with operators, we will appeal for a revision of this legal norm so that we can continue to build a network of charging stations, which is crucial for the adaptation of electromobility in Slovakia,” Križanský concludes.

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