Different Countries, Same Challenges – Incentives for Grid-Serving Charging Behavior in Europe

Article in the BWK – ENERGIE. in January 2022

Electrification in the mobility sector is gaining momentum across Europe and is thus not a nationally specific issue. In contrast, the energy industry and thus also the integration of electromobility into the grid is regulated mainly at the national level. There are, therefore, different approaches in the European countries.

From the point of view of component and car manufacturers – who sell their products throughout Europe and the world – knowledge of the regulations in other countries is crucial. Furthermore, the approaches and considerations of other European countries should also be included in the discussion on the further development of the network fee system in Germany. The article gives an overview of the procedures in selected European countries. In addition, current changes in Belgium, Italy, and Austria are examined in more detail.

In the implementation of grid fees, which are intended to provide incentives for grid-serving behavior, a distinction can be made between power-based (charging load or connection capacity) or time-variable approaches. In both cases, a large number of different variants exist. The common goal is to homogenize or smooth the network load.

Both approaches are common in Europe. On the other hand, there are countries in which households currently pay the grid fees exclusively based on the base price and the energy price, without any differentiation over time. This is also the case in Germany. These countries are under particular pressure to act, as the current system does not offer any incentives for grid-serving behavior. In the discussion about the design of grid fees, the progress of the smart meter rollout must also be taken into account, as this is decisive for their implementation.

The project “unIT-e² – Regulatory Sandboxes for Networked E-Mobility” focuses on the holistic integration of electromobility into the energy system. The content described here is being worked on by the Forschungsstelle für Energiewirtschaft e.V. (Research Center for Energy Economics) and is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate (BMWK) under the code 01MV21UN11. The article “Different countries, same challenges – incentives for grid-serving charging behavior in Europe” appeared in the January issue of BWK – Energie. and will be published here in April.

Further information:

• unIT-e² – Reallabor für verNETZte E-Mobilität
• unIT-e²: Elektromobilität intelligent vernetzen