- Significant support from institutional investors signals confidence in GreenWay and its plan
- First loan in CEE under EIB’s InnovFin program – EU Finance for Innovators’ Energy Demonstration Projects fund
Bratislava – Today, GreenWay unveiled a 34 million EUR infrastructure investment plan for electric mobility and charging services in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. It also signed a 17 million EUR investment agreement with the European Investment Bank to achieve this plan – the first loan in CEE under the EIB’s “InnovFin – EU Finance for Innovators’ Energy Demonstration Projects’” fund. They were joined in this announcement by the European Commission, which has several ongoing projects with GreenWay and a great interest in the growth of the electric mobility network as a critical piece in the transition towards cleaner, emissions free transportation.
GreenWay is the largest charging service provider in CEE, with a network of 120 charging stations in operation and a suite of advanced ICT systems to provide customer services. Today it announced its future intentions and the financial support of the European Investment Bank to achieve them.
The goals include:
- Installing more than 850 additional charging stations
- To increase the number and type of charging stations in its existing markets and to provide more charging opportunities to a growing range of EV drivers
- To expand the GreenWay network into new CEE markets to serve new customers
- To increasingly unify the region’s EV network(s) to provide for seamless travel by EV over ever larger geographic areas (so drivers do not need access cards for multiple different charging providers)
- To intensify ongoing R&D activities to bring cutting edge technologies to the region, including more GridBooster battery storage systems and Ultrafast charging systems with power up to 350kW
- Overall, making travel by electric vehicle a smooth, comfortable experience, and a realistic method of transport for people throughout the CEE region
- Providing EV drivers excellent customer service in order to increase the popularity of travel by electric vehicle, and in these ways to hasten the transition to electric
- To ensure that when the coming mass market of electric vehicles arrives in CEE, that lack of charging infrastructure and driver support services are not bottlenecks to electric mobility
Governments at all levels have a large role to play in reducing emissions and decarbonizing transportation and GreenWay works with them to roll out electric vehicle charging infrastructure smartly and successfully. In Slovakia, we encourage the Government to be ambitious in its legislative initiatives and join us in our effort to make electric vehicles a preferred, realistic option for all people. Especially important is that the Slovak Government reconsider its position towards the recent European Parliament proposal regarding regulating emissions from transportation. Stronger emissions limits will provide the path for Europe to stay at the forefront of innovation in electromobility.
The Polish E-mobility Act and Electromobility Development Plan provide the framework for e-mobility development in Poland. They also sets out roles and responsibilities for municipalities to deploy infrastructure. GreenWay is committed to helping Poland and Polish municipalities achieve their electric mobility and alternative fuels targets and reduce the amount of smog in Poland’s air. We will continue to work with the proper authorities in where we site our fast and ultra fast charging facilities and are interested in partnering with municipalities to help them plan their infrastructure deployment.
GreenWay’s R&D activities focus on deploying the most cutting edge charging technologies, and also testing the links between EVs, charging infrastructure, and energy storage. EVs are essentially batteries on wheels, and they are able to use that energy to power something (such as a home) or, to provide that energy to the grid, when there is great demand. The possibilities for generating cleaner energy and storing it until it is needed become nearly limitless. EV charging infrastructure is a key part of this cycle of energy generation, storage, and use, and figuring out how to extract maximum value from this cycle is a key part of GreenWays Plan for the Future.
Further details of GreenWay’s Plan for the Future will be shared at an event in Warsaw tomorrow.
Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President for the Energy Union, European Commission
“Our economic future depends on our leadership in the solutions of tomorrow and clean mobility is part of it. The EV market in Europe will grow fast in the coming years and so will the need for a dense, reliable network of charging stations. We estimate that 800,000 public charging points are needed in the EU by 2020. Therefore, I am pleased to see the GreenWay project – with a strong innovative element – to become the first Central and Eastern European project benefitting from the InnovFin EDP instrument. To plug the gap in charging infrastructure is essential for consumers’ trust in low and zero emission vehicles. To innovate is essential for Europe’s long-term competitiveness.”
Vazil Hudák, Vice-President, European Investment Bank
“The upgrading of energy infrastructure, be it in the form of improving the quality of the gas distribution network or increasing the availability of charging stations for electric vehicles, is important for strengthening Slovakia’s competitiveness and improving the environment. The support for this innovative energy investment fits in particularly well with the objectives of the Slovak Battery Alliance, which we recently established with the European Commission and the Slovak Government”.
Peter Badík, co-founder & Managing Partner, GreenWay
“At GreenWay our vision is to make Central and Eastern Europe cleaner and healthier through the widespread adoption of electric mobility. We are honored to have the support and confidence of the European Investment Bank as we pursue this vision. EIB financing is a key component of our 34 mil EUR growth plan to add many hundreds more charging stations throughout the region, deploy cutting edge technologies, improve customer services, and strengthen our leadership position here. As we remove the bottlenecks for the mass rollout of electric vehicles in this region, it is the time for local governments, the auto industry, and other market players to join and support the transition to cleaner and healthier electric transport.”
Ján Miškovský,GreenWay investor
The loan facility provided by EIB will not only enlarge the charging network in Central Europe but will also create a space for the innovative technologies used in this sector. I’m happy that GreenWay has spent many years developing the electromobility ecosystem in our region and significantly contributed to the decrease of emissions from transportation and slowing down the impact of climate change.
For further information, contact:
Aaron Fishbone
Communications Director, GreenWay Infrastructure
M: (+421) 911 371 827