Connecting Europe Facility: EU TEN T proposal includes integration of new technology

The Commission adopted on October 19, 2011 a proposal to transform the existing patchwork of European roads, railways, airports and canals into a unified transport network (TEN-T). The new core network will remove bottlenecks, upgrade infrastructure and streamline cross border transport operations for passengers and businesses throughout the EU. It will improve connections between different modes of transport and contribute to the EU’s climate change objectives.
The new policy follows a two-year consultation process and establishes a core transport network to be established by 2030 to act as the backbone for transportation within the Single Market. The financing proposals published today (for the period 2014–2020) also tightly focus EU transport funding on this core transport network, filling in cross-border missing links, removing bottlenecks and making the network smarter.
The new core TEN-T network will be supported by a comprehensive network of routes, feeding into the core network at regional and national level. This will largely be financed by Member States, with some EU transport and regional funding possibilities, including with new innovative financing instruments. The aim is to ensure that progressively, and by 2050, the great majority of Europe’s citizens and businesses will be no more than 30 minutes’ travel time from this comprehensive network.

Introduction

The Board of HyER,  in Spring 2011 approved the broadening of HyER to facilitate the deployment of the full range of electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles as well as fuel cell electric vehicles and their respective infrastructure in Europe.

Interested regions have been  invited to join HyER’s current and new members on October 27-28th, 2011 at the HyER General Assembly in Brussels and give their input on the organisation’s Activity Plan and its focus for the next coming years.

On October 28, 2011 HyER hosts the seminar “Towards fact-based policy support for electromobility:the European Electromobility Observatory” which presents the creation and management of a European Electromobility Observatory to facilitate sound policy making on this important issue. The objective of this seminar is to ask key stakeholders to present their view on the key data and experiences a European Electromobility Observatory should collect and their expectations of the outcome and impact of the Observatory on the development of electromobility in Europe.

In recent developments, regions are ramping up their efforts in hydrogen and electric vehicle roll-out in Europe:

The UK has opened the first public hydrogen refuelling station in the country while the West Midlands launched the deployment of the  next-generation H2EV hydrogen Microcabs and North East England’s “Charge Your Car” campaign continues to improve vehicle charging at home with financial assistance to new users of POD charging points and smart meters.

As France, Netherlands and Denmark recently announced more national support for the development of a hydrogen infrastructure next to their support for a  recharging infrastructure, HyER is exploring the leveraging of budgets for electromobility infrastructure development at EU level as new EU programs for the 2014 -2020 are being finalized (TEN T, horizon 2020, Structural funds 2014 -2020).

EU presents new earmarked Cohesion policy budget for 2014 – 2020

The EU plans to spend €376 billion on cohesion policy from 2014 to 2020, an increase over the 2007-2013 allocation (€347 billion). This amount includes €40 billion that the Commission set aside for a future transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructure, the Connecting Europe Facility.

Strictly speaking, €336 billion will be directly allocated to supporting the development and competitiveness of the EU’s 271 regions. More developed regions are required to spend 20% of their allocated budget to renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Introduction

Regions are ramping up their efforts in hydrogen and electric vehicle roll-out in Europe:

The UK has opened the first public hydrogen refuelling station in the country while the West Midlands launched the deployment of the next-generation H2EV hydrogen Microcabs and North East England’s “Charge Your Car” campaign continues to improve vehicle charging at home with financial assistance to new users of POD charging points and smart meters.

As France, Netherlands and Denmark recently announced more national support for the development of a hydrogen infrastructure next to their support for a recharging infrastructure, HyER is exploring the leveraging of budgets for electromobility infrastructure development at EU level as new EU programs for the 2014 -2020 are being finalized (TEN T, horizon 2020, Structural funds 2014 -2020).

In view of these developments the Board of HyER, last Spring approved the broadening of HyER to facilitate the deployment of the full range of electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles as well as fuel cell electric vehicles and their respective infrastructure in Europe.

Interested regions are warmly invited to join HyER’s current and new members on October 27-28th, 2011 at the HyER General Assembly in Brussels and give their input on the organisation’s Activity Plan and its focus for the next coming years.

On October 28, 2011 HyER is organizing a seminar “Towards fact-based policy support for electromobility: the European Electromobility Observatory”. HyER is currently exploring the creation and management of a European Electromobility Observatory to facilitate sound policy making on this important issue. The objective of this seminar is to ask key stakeholders to present their view on the key data and experiences a European Electromobility Observatory should collect and their expectations of the outcome and impact of the Observatory on the development of electromobility in Europe. For more info and registration please contact the secretariat@hy-ramp.eu

A future outlook: e-mobility and its implications for grid capacity

The European Union has committed to halve the use of oil-fuelled cars in urban transport by 2030 and phase them out completely by 2050. Meeting these targets, set out in the EU’s “White Paper for a Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area”, will require a massive shift to electric cars over the next twenty years.
With the majority of the estimated 51 million cars on the road in Germany used in urban transport, a significant portion will have to convert to electric charging over the next twenty years. However, the unprecedented demand this scenario creates for electrical power would quickly overwhelm Germany’s existing electricity grid. Dr. Peter Birkner, chairman of the Networks Committee of industry association Eurelectric reported to the European Energy Review explaining the challenges in the next ten years are more about grid capacity than energy. According to Birkner the problem of e-mobility is not about generation capacity. “One million electric vehicles can run on just 0.3 percent of Germany’s electricity supply” and Europe-wide electricity demand would increase by only about 15 percent if every driver in the EU-27 bloc currently converted to fully electric engines.

Grants available for home chargers in North East England

Domestic charging points are being installed in homes across the region of North East England, making it even easier for drivers to make that switch to low carbon vehicles.
The Charge your Car project aims to work with partners to put in place over 1,000 points by March 2013 and is always on the look out for potential partners. Grant funding is currently available and partnership opportunities exist. The project purchases a POD Point charging point and smart meter, and the user can pay approx £400 towards installation and take part the trial.

Trento region to acquire 3 H2 buses

Provincia Autonoma di Trento will demonstrate zero emission public transportation system for the first time in mountainous areas of Europe. System technologies have already been established in small vehicles.

Dutch Plan of Action announced for hydrogen infrastructure build-up

At the large Ecomobiel Fair in Rotterdam on September 27, 2011, the Dutch Minister for Infrastructure and Environment, Melanie Schultz Verhaegen, also responsible for Mobility,  announced the Dutch government’s interest to collaborate with Germany to put the Netherlands on the map as “a walh2alla” for hydrogen  development.  She mentioned the government intends to work with regional authorities to develop an action plan by this Spring to facilitate a sufficient infrastructure build up of hydrogen refuelling network to attact the first fuel cell hydrogen car fleets, buses trucks as well as passenger cars. A budget of 5 mln is set aside for this efforts.

Rotterdam opens Electric Vehicle Information Centre

On Wednesday, 31 August, Dutch Minister for Infrastructure and the Environment, Melanie Schultz van Haegen officially opened the Dutch national ecodriving programme Het Nieuwe Rijden | Electric Vehicle Centre.

Clean Hydrogen In European Cities Workshop

The first Clean Hydrogen In European Cities Workshop was held Tuesday October 25, 2011 during the Busworld Europe Trade Fair in Kortijk, Belgium.
The event aimed to attract regional authorities as well as local public transport operators in Europe.
The Clean Hydrogen In European Cities (CHIC) will provide results from demonstrations of more than 55 hydrogen buses. Of these, 26 FCH buses are directly funded by European Union Joint Undertaking for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (FCH JU) and will operate in daily public transport operations in five locations across Europe – Aargau (Switzerland), Bolzano/Bozen (Italy), London (UK), Milan (Italy), and Oslo (Norway).