Mobility expert: "Bureaucracy massively hampers electromobility"

Electromobility expert Matthias Kerner explains in the interview where specifically the implementation of the new guidelines for the greenhouse gas quota (GHG quota) is still severely lacking – and what opportunities still exist despite everything. He is the managing director of Emovy GmbH from Ettlingen. Through the GHG quota, those who contribute to reducing harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are financially rewarded.

Since January 1, 2024, new regulations for the crediting of self-generated electricity – primarily through photovoltaic systems – have been in effect when it is made available at charging points. The guidelines of the Federal Environment Agency for the crediting of charging electricity amounts from renewable energies have become stricter.

What does this mean for companies that want to benefit from the GHG quota?

Matthias Kerner: Instead of using a standard meter, it now must be proven with the help of special meters that the electricity generated in the facility is delivered to public charging points in 15-minute intervals. This is to prevent operators from receiving double compensation for the self-generated green electricity through the GHG quota and the EEG feed-in tariff. While this desire is fundamentally understandable, in practice the new regulations bring some difficulties.

Are such special meters significantly more expensive than the previously used standard electricity meters?

Depending on the application, providers need two to three new types of meters, which in addition to the one-time installation costs, can also incur costs of several hundred euros per year per meter. Although locally generated charging electricity from renewable energies is now considered with a factor of about 2.5 times in the GHG quota, these additional costs mean that the installation of these special meters only pays off if an electricity quantity of several megawatt hours is delivered per year. It is all the more annoying that local battery storage is not taken into account.

That means, even though the electricity was generated on-site using renewable energies, it isn't recognized if it is stored in between?

Exactly. The higher credit factor only applies if the generated electricity is loaded directly into the vehicle. This completely disregards the physical circumstances at a charging station. Even a large photovoltaic system, which at best can achieve 100 kW peak power, can only deliver a maximum of these 100 kW as charging power simultaneously to vehicles. If additionally, on-site generated electricity stored beforehand is used, it is not credited. This is very unfortunate for all affected companies.

With Emovy, you support companies in marketing their GHG quotas and also take over communication with the responsible authorities. How well does that work?

Unfortunately, this is mostly a game of patience or sometimes even luck. There are currently simply no binding statements on how the details of the new regulation should be interpreted. Often we wait many weeks to receive a decision. Ultimately, companies are dependent on the goodwill of the responsible authorities, who often do not really understand the matter considering the increasingly excessive bureaucracy. This bottleneck sometimes costs us up to 16 weeks of time. And the public level of digitization is often shockingly low. All of this noticeably hinders the ramp-up of electromobility.