Dutch Government announces €5 million subsidies to expand two-way EV charging

A more stable electricity network, better use of green electricity and making money with an electric car. That is what smart charging stations make possible.

Dutch State Secretary Van Veldhoven (Infrastructure and Water Management) allocated €5 million ($5.5 million) to subsidise municipalities in their construction. The money will be used in 21 Dutch municipalities throughout the Netherlands for loading bays with a total of 472 smart charging points.

State Secretary Van Veldhoven said: “Electric driving becomes the new normal. I therefore not only want more charging points, but also smarter. These charging stations are the future. They relieve the electricity grid, use green energy better and make charging your car even cheaper. That is why I want to speed up its construction. Charging your electric car should be as easy as charging your cell phone.”

The supply of electricity to the network by electric vehicles is called ‘vehicle-to-grid'. The car connected to the smart charging station stores the surplus of sustainably generated electricity. The power is then fed back into the grid at peak times. By using the car as a buffer, green energy can be used more efficiently and the electricity grid is relieved.

To prevent electric cars from being unexpectedly empty after being discharged, the vehicle makes part of the battery capacity available to be supplied back to the electricity grid. The owner gives permission for this and determines how much electricity can be used from the car.

Thanks to the subsidy, municipalities can get started with the construction of the new loading bays. New applications for consumers are also being worked on. Users who make their electric car available when there is a high demand for energy can receive a reward for this. This allows a possibility for motorists to make money with their electric car in the long term.

All electric cars can charge at the smart charging stations. For a number of car models, such as the Nissan Leaf and the Renault Zoe, it is already possible to store green electricity and return electricity to the grid. The first smart loading bays will be ready for use in 2020.

With the grant, smart charging stations are being installed in 21 municipalities. A total of 20 new squares will appear in the municipality of Utrecht. It is estimated that 12,000 electric cars will be driving around in Utrecht in 2020. To be able to charge all these cars, approximately 1,600 charging points are needed. The loading bays are therefore essential to cope with the growth in demand for charging points in the coming years.

In addition, the charging stations that will be placed on these squares are suitable for storing locally generated electricity in shared cars and later returning it to the electricity grid. This means that these loading bays make an important contribution to the energy transition.

The Dutch government's goal is to reduce CO2 emissions. Agreements have been made to encourage the use of clean means of transport. Consider, for example, electric cars. These cars do not emit any greenhouse gases when driving, keep our air clean and cause less noise nuisance. Hundreds of thousands of charging points will be installed in the coming years, so that people can easily charge their car everywhere.