The Transport Ministry will extend the first phase of a €3.7 mln scheme for 1,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the country until the end of April 2023.
Approved by the Cabinet in November last year, the scheme will be implemented in two phases, with grants for 500 charging stations being handed out each round.
The first phase was to run until January 31, 2023, with a budget of €1.8m.
The second phase will be announced near the end of 2023, with the remaining almost €2 mln.
It is part of the national recovery and resilience plan titled ‘rapid transition to a green economy – sustainable transport.’
Beneficiaries of the scheme include companies, associations, foundations, NGOs, local government authorities and individuals who would like to set up and run a charging station.
The scheme aims to have 1000 stations up and running by 2026.
According to the scheme, charging stations can be set up at public parking spots, private parking, petrol stations and designated areas for electric vehicle charging stations.
Every beneficiary can receive funding for up to four charging stations per district, at a maximum of 15 across the country.
Local authorities are exempted from the rule and can place eight stations in their district.
As stated in the scheme, the state compensates for half the expenditure, with a maximum amount depending on the charger’s output power.
Charging stations in rural areas will receive up to 55% of the funding.
Grants will start from €1,600 up to a maximum of €30,000 depending on the capacity of the charging station.
Applications and more information can be made at https://ev1000.cea.org.cy.
The plan complements a €30 mln incentive scheme to encourage motorists to go electric that went live earlier in January.
The second phase of the incentive scheme to promote electric vehicles went live with a €10 mln budget to offer 2,518 grants
Interested parties submit their application on March 9, 11 am.
The grants start at €10,000 for new electric vehicles, while the funding for scrapping old cars amounts to €7,500, with a budget of €10.16 mln.
Cyprus has been slow to build public charging points, and there are complaints that an incentive scheme targeted at boosting EV sales is not attractive enough.
It only had 57 charging points as of last year, the lowest in the EU, while the Netherlands has 90,000.
Source: The Financial Mirror