PPC’s 15-station recharging network nears completion

A network of fifteen recharging stations for electric vehicles being developed by PPC, the Public Power Corporation, as part of “Green e Motion”, a European initiative aiming to promote the emerging electric car market, is approaching completion.

At present, four recharging stations are already operating at four key energy-sector points in Athens, PPC’s main headquarters; the Environment, Energy & Climate Change Ministry; HEDNO, the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator – locally referred to as DEDDIE – and the Regulatory Authority for Energy (RAE) building, while a further six stations are also operating in the provincial city of Kozani, northern Greece.

For the time being, the network of fifteen PPC stations will serve fifteen electric vehicles purchased by PPC from BMW and Daimler as part of a pilot program, while, in the future, the stations may also be used by electric vehicle owners.

Green e Motion, a four-year program held as part of a European campaign titled European Green Cars Initiative (EGCI), aiming to support research and development for eco-friendly vehicle transportation, concludes at the end of February, 2015.

Once completed, Green e Motion’s 43 participants – industrial companies, electricity production companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, universities, and research centers – will forward their findings to the European Commission, which, in turn, will use the accumulated information for future decisions regarding the electric vehicle sector’s further development.

The fast-growing electric vehicle market is creating business opportunities in electricity supply, development of “smart” high-tech recharging networks, as well as greater renewable energy source (RES) utilization, as was pointed out at a PPC conference organized last September. Highlighting the interest in this growing market, major European electricity suppliers, such as the German companies Siemens and Bosch, Italy’s Enel, Spain’s Endesa, Ireland’s ESB, and local ventures Elpedison and Fortisis, took part in the conference.