Press release 03/2024
January 22, 2024

The Portuguese Competition Authority – Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC) carried out an analysis of the competition conditions in the electric vehicle recharging sector, which resulted in the identification of barriers that could jeopardise the development and expansion of an electric vehicle recharging network with adequate, efficient, and competitive coverage.

The study
The study Competition and Electric Vehicle Recharging in Portugal prepared by the AdC aims to promote competition and efficiency in the electric vehicle recharging network in Portugal, to the benefit of consumers, and to this end it presents a set of seven recommendations to the government and municipalities.
The study, now published, is under public consultation until March 1, 2024, and starts from the premise that a dense and competitive network of recharging infrastructures is essential for the adoption of electric vehicles, one of the key technologies for decarbonising the transport sector.

The barriers
However, the analysis carried out allowed to identify obstacles that could jeopardise the competition required to expand the recharging network, namely:

• Barriers to the entry of new operators in the installation and operation of points on motorways, with a negative impact on competition. Currently, these recharging points are concentrated in just six operators, four of which are oil companies and the rest operate the points through partnerships with oil companies.
• The complexity of the organisational model for electric vehicle recharging, which integrates Charge Point Operators (CPOs) and eMobility Service Providers (eMSPs), requiring additional data collection for billing between the different agents.
• Difficulties in electric vehicle users' experience with payment and price comparability. It is difficult to anticipate the final cost of recharging, and there are different price structures depending on the type of point.
• Legal barriers to the entry of new players of the electricity sector.
• Geographical asymmetry in network coverage, with lower density in inland regions.

The Recommendations
In view of this analysis, the AdC recommends to the Government:

• Promote the simplification of the payment method at publicly accessible recharging points.
• Promote the simplification of the organisational model, integrating the role of CPOs and eMSPs.
• Evaluate the costs and benefits of selecting the Electric Mobility Network Managing Entity (EGME in Portuguese) through a competitive mechanism.
• Repeal the possibility of extending (sub)concession contracts in service areas without a public tender.
• Promote competitive mechanisms for awarding rights to install and operate points in service areas.
• Allow eMSPs or CPOs to contract electricity from any agent that commercialises it.

And to municipalities:

• Promote, in a timely manner, the regional development of the electric vehicle recharging network, with a view to mitigating regional differentiation.

The Recommendations

The AdC is submitting the study Competition and Electric Vehicle Recharging in Portugal to public consultation, inviting all interested parties to submit comments and/or complaints to the AdC, within 30 working days (until March 1, 2024), to the email address consultapublica@concorrencia.pt
In replying to this request, the AdC asks that, in view of the legal regime for access to administrative information, the parties identify the information that consider confidential, namely because it contains business secrets, attaching, where appropriate, a non-confidential copy without those confidential elements and the respective grounds for confidentiality.