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Electric Charging Stations: A New Era of Infrastructure Investment

Benjamin Fram |

Countries around the world are increasingly considering the electrification of passenger vehicles as an important means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and particle pollution. In order to increase the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), however, there needs to be a sufficient number of charging stations to meet the charging needs of EV owners. 

Through a combination of new environmental regulations and economic policies, governments across the globe are aggressively seeking to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and point-source pollution. As a result, the global share of electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to grow significantly during the next twenty years. In a recent report, investment bank Goldman Sachs has projected that EVs will represent approximately 61% of all new passenger vehicles worldwide by 2040, an astronomical increase from approximately 2% in 2020 (Goldman Sachs Report on EVs).The transition from gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles to EVs is already well under way in places such as Norway, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, and the US state of California. EVs currently comprise 25% of all passenger vehicles in Norway which constitutes the largest EV fleet in the world on a per capita basis.

This transition away from using fossil fuels to power vehicles, however, will necessitate large-scale investment in EV charging infrastructure. In a recent report, McKinsey & Company estimated that the number of charging stations in Europe will need to increase tenfold by 2030 at a potential cost of €40 billion in order to accommodate the surge in EVs (McKinsey Report on EV Charging Stations).

At Greensight, we have previously leveraged our technical and economic knowledge about EV charging stations to develop comprehensive mathematical models that concisely quantify charging station profitability over a given time horizon. These models have taken into account expected capital expenditures (CAPEX), operational costs (OPEX), station utilization rates, electricity prices, and many more financial parameters to calculate the expected profitability of an EV charging station. These models have also been built flexibly and can take into account different station sizes, seasonal traffic patterns, and the expected EV market share growth for each individual project. In practice, Greensight has used our modelling skills extensively to assist our affiliate company Greenstation to analyze the profitability of charging station projects. Greenstation has successfully built three fully operational charging stations in Straume, Gjøvik, and Byrkjelo each of which are turning heads with their award-winning design and high customer satisfaction.

Contact us today at post@greensight.no to find out more about how we can assist you in achieving your EV charging station modelling goals.

Project Team

Benjamin Fram

Economist, Greensight

Ben is an Economist who is interested primarily in electricity markets. Prior to joining Greensight, he worked as a market analyst at Monitoring Analytics LLC, the independent market monitor for PJM Interconnection, where he gained extensive knowledge about electricity market design and dynamics. He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Gothenburg and is currently finishing up his PhD at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).

Marte Waage Haga

Energy Analyst, Greensight

Marte is a Mechanical Engineer with specialization in materials from HVL and NTNU. Before joining Greensight she worked in Equinor within project execution, operations and maintenance. She has extensive knowledge from the energy sector to ensure safe and reliable project designs and future operation. 

 

Celine Solstad

Energy Analyst, Greensight

Celine is an engineer with a MSc in energy from the University of Bergen with specialisation in hydrogen. Through her studies and the work in Greensight she has obtained knowledge within in hydrogen applications, renewable energy, emission reduction and energy stations. She also has experience with energy calculations and market analysis in industrial and maritime sector.

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