The Lithuanian Energy Agency is currently launching its third call for legal entities to benefit from support for the installation of private charging stations for electric vehicles at their workplaces. This time, the support has been increased from the previous 30%. up to 50 %. eligible costs. It is true that you will need to choose a bus stop that meets the requirements in order to benefit from the support, but this will help to ensure the long-term and efficient operation of the infrastructure.
One of the most important conditions for benefiting from the support is the installation of a dynamic power controller. It must be installed and operational. This solution allows for optimal power distribution and avoids overloading of the power inlet, and allows more stations to be installed within the available resources.
According to Paulus Gūtis, the manager of Įkrautas, the company that sells and installs the stations, it is very important to choose the equipment thoughtfully, as the wrong solution can limit the possibilities of expansion: “Sometimes customers install one or two stations without assessing all the technical conditions or future needs, but later, when they want to expand the network, they face a problem – the existing equipment does not support the required protocols, and the infrastructure expansion was not foreseen.”
It is therefore worth consulting experts before making a decision, to help you assess not only your current needs, but also your future ones. And if the equipment is chosen correctly, additional costs can also be avoided – the dynamic power controller allows for optimal use of the existing power input, often eliminating the need to buy additional power from ESO or pay a power surcharge.
The Lithuanian Energy Agency finances part of the cost of purchasing and installing charging stations and other related works for businesses. For the third phase, which runs until 29 August 2025, the rate of support is 50%. of the eligible costs mentioned above. However, the support is not calculated on the amount proposed by the contractor, but on the approved fixed cost rates.
The European Social Fund Agency, following a market analysis, established average prices for the installation of charging stations according to the capacity of the station, the location of the installation, whether it is wall-mounted or ground-mounted, with or without dynamic power management, and adopted fixed cost rates for different applicants.
“According to the 2024. 5 September small businesses, public legal entities and medium-sized or large enterprises eligible for minor(de minimis) State aid can apply and receive up to 50% of the total amount of the grant. funding for private charging points for electric cars. For example, a company can receive from €992.97 for each wall-mounted charging access and from €1,661.91 for each ground-mounted access,” said Laura Bogušienė, Senior Project Manager at the LEA’s Project Administration Division.
“In reality, the prices of charging stations with access vary, with one charging station costing €500, another €1,500, and a third €3,600 excluding VAT. And each customer’s site for installing EV charging stations is different. One customer may have to dig a few metres, another a hundred metres. The quantity of cables and other materials, the capacity of the existing inlet, or the need for a new inlet vary. However, it is usually possible to “fit in” with the amounts of support given, the most important thing is to turn to specialists to help find the best solution,” commented the representative of “Įkrautas”.
Support for charging infrastructure for legal entities is open to all companies, public bodies, municipalities, NGOs, educational and other institutions. Before making a decision, companies should check the Register of State aid andde minimis aid (KOTIS) to see if they have a balance of such aid, which will show what funding is available. Applications can be filled in online on the website of the Lithuanian Energy Agency www.ena.lt. It is also important to consider in advance how many charging stations are planned.
The third round of calls for proposals foresees the distribution of just over €12 million to public and private legal entities. euros.
After the project has been implemented, the support will require the submission of VAT invoices for the purchase of the equipment, the acceptance certificate for the installation/installation, the technical specification sheet for the equipment, photos of the installed bus stop and signage, and a posting on the organisation’s social network and website about the funding provided for the project.
The deadline for assessing applications is 55 working days, but this does not include the time taken by the applicant to revise the application or to contact other authorities for additional data. In practice, the length of the assessment may vary. Experts say that if an application is properly prepared and free of errors, it can be assessed even faster than the deadline. However, in some cases the process can take up to several months. This is often the case when applicants need to revise their applications due to inaccuracies, and the Agency gives them the opportunity to do so even several times.
“The main reason why the timeframe for assessing an application and examining a payment request can be longer than 55 working days is due to errors in applications and payment requests,” said Laura Bogušienė.
“The experts at Charged advise: if you have already installed charging stations that meet the conditions of the call, submit your application together with the payment request and the required documents. This can significantly shorten the time it takes to receive the benefit.
“The third round of calls for proposals is really working. As soon as the call was launched, the number of business enquiries for the purchase of bus stops increased by around 40%,” shared Paulius Gūžys.
According to the LEA, almost 770 applications have been received at the end of the third round of calls for proposals, compared to 191 applications in the first round and 523 in the second.
The growing network of EV charging stations in the parking lots of Lithuanian companies shows that the support is effective in achieving the objectives of reducing overall emissions, contributing to the development of a sustainable transport system in Lithuania, promoting the development of the country’s EV infrastructure and enabling residents to charge their EVs at their workplaces.
Having our own charging infrastructure will encourage more company employees to switch to clean, electric vehicles. In addition, the ability to charge an electric car at the workplace will motivate an increasing proportion of the population to switch away from combustion-engine cars. In the future, topping up the battery of an electric car will become even easier, as Lithuania has set a very ambitious target of installing 53,000 EVs by March 2026. private charging bays.
