Today, August 16, a new electric car charging point with 4 charging ports began its work at the service station "Virši Olaine", 2 of which are ultra-fast ports with a charging capacity of up to 160 kW, which allows you to load the volume required for 150 km in ten minutes. In honour of the expansion of the network today at the newly opened electric charging station, owners of electric cars can charge for free. Both CCS and CHAdeMO plug-ins for different types of electric cars are available.
Currently, in the "Virši" network, charging of electric cars is already available at 17 service stations – nine of them in cooperation with the VAS "Road Traffic Safety Directorate" (CSDD), the rest are service stations of the Company`s brand. By significantly expanding the possibilities of electric charging and thus promoting both the availability of this sustainable transport energy mode and the interest of citizens in purchasing greener vehicles, by the middle of next year electric charging will be available at more than 20 "Virši" service stations, and in nine more service stations the charging service will continue to be provided by the CSDD e-Mobi network.
"As part of the Company's strategic development, electricity and related products play a significant role. By doubling the number of powerful electric charging stations, it is planned to provide at least 28 ports with a capacity of 160 kW, as well as more than 30 ports with a capacity of 40 kW throughout the territory of Latvia. More powerful connections will also enable the charging of trucks in the future, contributing to the gradual decarbonization of the transport sector. The investment in the implementation of this ambitious project amounts to approximately 2 million euros, about half covered by the support of the European Union Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Financing Instrument*," Jānis Vība, Chairman of the Board of "Virši", reveals the plans.
The ceremonial opening event was attended by Andris Kužnieks, Deputy Head of the European Commission Representation, and Tālivaldis Vectirāns, Director of the Road Infrastructure Department of the Ministry of Transport, highly appreciating the progress of "Virši" towards the development of electric charging infrastructure in Latvia.
"Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular across the European Union, and this is happening at an unsurprisingly fast pace – in June 2023 alone, Europeans bought 158,000 electric cars. In addition, charging points for electric cars on Europe's main roads must be at least every 60 km or even closer. We – the EU, national authorities, and businesses – must jointly achieve the objective of building electric charging stations by 2026, and this is one of the elements for Europe to meet the 'Fit for 55' condition of reducing harmful emissions by 55% by 2030. We see that climate change requires us to play an active role in implementing the Green Deal, so we are very pleased with the work done by "Virši" in promoting the availability of electric charging! Together greener and more sustainable!" said Andris Kužnieks, Deputy Head of the Representation of the European Commission.
During the event, participants had the opportunity not only to get acquainted with the potential of the project and the power of the charging station, but also to try it out in life with the latest electric car models Volvo XC40 Recharge, Škoda Enyaq Coupe, Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 GTX, as well as Audi e-tron GT from "Mūsa Motors", "Škoda Latvija" and "Moller Baltic Import SE" and ask questions of interest to specialists.
* In 2022, an agreement was signed with the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency to mobilize the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) for the creation of 20 new “Virši” electric charging stations within the existing DUS network. Within the framework of the contract, 20 "Virši" service stations (DUS) will be supplemented with 28 connection points with charging capacity of at least 150 kW, and 8 of these 20 service stations will be connected to the distribution system operator at least 870A. The project is planned to be implemented by the second quarter of 2024.
*The project is co-funded by the European Union. The author is responsible for the opinions and points of view expressed in the press release and it does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the European Union nor Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility (AFIF). Neither the European Union nor the authority that has provided the co-funding is responsible for the opinions expressed in the news release.
About Virši:
Virši is a rapidly growing energy commodities trader and convenience store network with 28 years of experience. Currently there are 72 fuel stations in the Virši network and these employ over 760 employees across all of Latvia. Since 11 November 2021, the shares of AS Virši-A have been admitted to trading on the Nasdaq Riga Alternative Market First North.
Additional information:
Undīne Priekule
Head of Communication at Virši
Tel.: 26 141 219
E-mail: undine.priekule@virsi.lv
www.virsi.lv
