AdC presents nine recommendations to the Government and Municipalities on electric mobility
Press release 23/2024
October 14, 2024
The AdC presents nine recommendations to the Government and Municipalities to promote an efficient and competitive coverage of electric vehicle recharging infrastructure.
A dense and competitive network of electric vehicle recharging infrastructure is essential for the adoption of electric vehicles, which are one of the key technologies for decarbonising the transport sector.
The Study “Competition and Electric Vehicle Recharging in Portugal”, prepared by the AdC, identifies aspects that could be improved in the sector, to promote competition and efficiency in the electric mobility network in Portugal, to the benefit of consumers, while also contributing to the sustainable development of the economy.
The public consultation
The preliminary version of the study was submitted for public consultation between 19 January and 1 March 2024.
This was the AdC's most participated public consultation, which illustrates the high level of interest in this sector. Alongside the opinion of the sector's regulator - ERSE - the AdC received 183 contributions from public entities, individual consumers, consumer associations, operators and associations of companies in the electric mobility sector, entities in the electricity sector and entities from other sectors.
These contributions made it possible to identify additional recommendations and contributed to a more detailed analysis of each of the recommendations.
The barriers identified in the Study
The analysis carried out allowed AdC to identify obstacles to the expansion of a competitive and innovative recharging network, namely:
- Barriers to the entry of new operators in the installation and operation of points on motorways. Currently, these recharging points are concentrated in just seven operators, four of which are oil companies, and the remaining operate the charging points through partnerships with oil companies.
- Difficulties in electric vehicle users' experience with payment and price comparability, as well as in predicting the final cost of recharging.
- The complexity of the organisational model for electric vehicle recharging, which integrates Charge Point Operators (CPO) and Electric Mobility Suppliers (CEME in Portuguese), requiring additional data collection for billing between the different agents.
- Legal barriers to the entry of new players of the electricity sector.
- Geographical asymmetry in network coverage, with lower density in inland regions.
The AdC’s recommendations
In view of this analysis, the AdC recommends to the Government:
- Promote the simplification of the payment methods at publicly accessible recharging points.
- Promote the simplification of the organisational model, integrating the role of CPO and CEME.
- Evaluate the costs and benefits of selecting the Electric Mobility Network Managing Entity (EGME in Portuguese) through a competitive, open, transparent and non-discriminatory mechanism.
- Impose the obligation for the EGME to be independent of the CEME.
- Revoke the obligation for CEME to be OPC.
- Revoke the possibility of extending (sub)concession contracts for service areas or petrol stations to the installation and operation of charging points without a public tender.
- Promote the allocation of rights to install and operate charging points on motorways through competitive, open, transparent and non-discriminatory mechanisms.
- Allow CEME or CPO (depending on the organisational model of electric mobility) to contract electric energy to any economic agent that sells it.
Additionally, the AdC recommends to the Municipalities:
- Promote, in a timely manner, the regional development of the electric vehicle recharging network, with a view to mitigating regional differentiation.
