Promotion of Electromobility through Planning and Installation of EV Charging Networks in Greek Islands

In the EU, more than 25% of GHG emissions come from the transport sector, making it a key target for achieving carbon reduction goals. In the summer of 2020, the Greek government announced its National Plan for E-mobility, in line with the EU Green Deal strategy. As a first step, the law on Promotion of E-mobility introduced a subsidy scheme for electric vehicle acquisition and the obligation for all Municipalities to develop Electric Vehicle Charging Plans (EVCPs).

Although these initiatives seem to effectively support the uptake of e-mobility in urban context, the adoption of e-mobility in islands faces challenges, mostly deriving from their topography, remoteness, and seasonality. On the other hand, these characteristics represent great opportunities for islands to function as testbeds for the technical, social, and financial innovation needed to promote e-mobility.

To that end, AEGEA in collaboration with DAFNI developed the following services, offered to its members:

• Pilot publicly accessible Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) network development
• Technical and legal support in resolving legality and ownership issues of municipal buildings and parking lots and licensing the EVC
• On-site inspections, in cooperation with HEDNO, to assess grid availability and potential risks for the EVCS (danger of flooding, exposure to sea etc.)
• Technical studies to identify the optimal way to install the EVCS in terms of cost, visual impact and ease of construction
• Identification of necessary technical requirements for the EVCS (resilience to weather, protection from voltage variations, compatibility with traditional architecture)
• Training and support of technical staff
• Elaboration of EV charging plans
  • Development of an island-specific methodology:
    • to estimate the required number of publicly accessible EVCS. To address seasonality, the methodology is applied for August, assuming peak transport demand
    • for optimal spatial allocation of the EVCS, considering local mobility patterns, points of interest, permanent and seasonal population distribution.
  • Support in citizen engagement activities, to ensure effective and inclusive planning
• Support in the electrification of municipal fleets.

What we achieved

This support and collaboration with the island municipalities, members of DAFNI, was fruitful and already resulted to the implementation of the 2 first insular public charging networks:

• In Kythnos, 4 double chargers were installed in the framework of “Kythnos Smart Island” project
• In Astypalea, 6 double chargers were installed in the framework of “Astypalea Smart and Sustainable Island” project. Thanks to the pilot charging network, Astypalea has become the municipality with the highest chargers per citizens ratio in Europe.

The enhanced visibility of the EV charging stations, also due to accompanying works (beautification and cleaning of surroundings, industrial flooring, special signage), had a positive impact to the visitors, resulting to an increased demand for EV rentals.

This best practice is issued from our publication Sustainable Regions in Action 2022. Read it now to discover many more best practices from FEDARENE members as well as an overview of our activities.