Photo: Eldrive
Eldrive Holding has secured a EUR 40 million loan for the deployment of 8,472 electric vehicle charging stations in Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Romania. Registered in Austria and owned by Bulgarian investors, the company operates 1,200 chargers in the three countries.
Eldrive Holding said the European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved its request for a EUR 40 million loan to install 8,472 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania over the next three years.
With InvestEU and the EIB’s financial support, the firm plans to invest about EUR 146 million to deploy 4,376 new EV charging stations in Romania, 2,575 in Lithuania and 1,530 in Bulgaria.
The project is intended to improve the currently low market penetration of EVs and charging points in the three countries
According to the EIB, the project will improve the currently low market penetration of electric vehicles and charging points in the three countries, and help them deliver on the European Green Deal objective of having one million public EV chargers and alternative fuel stations spread across the European Union.
The EV charging networks will underpin the shift to electric vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in urban areas of Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania, the bank said.
According to Electromaps, Bulgaria has 268 chargers and there are only 71 in Lithuania while Romania hosts 1,526.
OMV Petrom said last month that it took over Renovatio Asset Management, which operates 400 charging points in Romania. With the acquisition, the oil and gas company said it would become the largest player in e-mobility in the country.
Bulgaria’s transmission system operator ESO signed a cooperation agreement two years ago with a group of organizations to set a target of installing 10,000 charging stations within five years that would use green electricity.
Spassov: Securing the trust of the EIB is a substantial milestone for the firm
CEO Stefan Spassov said that securing the trust of the EIB is a substantial milestone for Eldrive.
“Having the EIB as a partner on this project will help us quickly and effectively expand our network and become one of the leading charging point operators in Europe,” he said.
According to EIB Vice-President Kyriacos Kakouris, the transition to e-mobility can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as air pollution. However, a serious shift to electric vehicles cannot take off without the necessary infrastructure, he added.
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