[NEWS] BSC: 4th e-mobility convention, Slovenia

Organized by E-mobility, an all-day conference on the topic of promoting e-mobility in local communities was held on the 13th of April 2022 in Brdo pri Kranju. The conference was also attended by the RDA of Gorenjska, BSC Kranj, which presented the work of regional development agencies from the Westrn Cohesion Region in the field of e-mobility difussion.

Participants in the 4th e-mobility conference learned about the experiences of some of the most successful European countries. The main topics of the conference were issues related to charging infrastructure and charging stations for electric vehicle charging, development of e-vehicles and batteries, and the role of municipalities and development agencies in spreading e-mobility. The panel discussions provided additional answers to current questions about investments, tax legislation and improving the e-mobility user experience. As part of the conference, the traditional selection for the most progressive e-mobility city and municipality took place, where town Kranjska Gora and the City Municipality of Kranj were among the candidates.

Blanka Odlazek, Project Manager, RDA Gorenjska, BSC Kranj presented the support by implementation of e-mobility by: Regional Development Center Koper, multi-year cooperation with the Municipality of Koper in introducing e-mobility and further plans, Posoški Development Center (PRC), joint participation in e-mobility projects MOTICON in CROSSMOBY. In the CROSSMOBY project, where BSC Kranj joined the core working group for the preparation of the Regional Integrated Transport Strategy for the wider Julian Alps functional territory, led by the PRC. In the CROSSMOBY project, the Posoški Development Center tested the ID4 electric car for one year, tested the sharing of this electric vehicle and, among other activities, conducted a survey on vehicle sharing readiness among users, which showed that 67 percent of respondents would use a vehicle sharing system. RDA Gorenjska, BSC Kranj started its story in support of the e-mobility introduction in 2010 at the initiative of the Center for Sustainable Rural Development Kranj and through the financial mechanism of the LEAG with the support of Gorenjske elektrarne and the consent of the municipalities of Bohinj, Bled, Kranjska Gora, Preddvor and Jezersko, 5 charging stations were set up. The final event of the project included the organization of a trip around Gorenjska with fifteen electric vehicles. The boom in support of the introduction of e-mobility began for RDA Gorenjska in 2015 with the application and acquisition of the Interreg AS e-MOTICON project, in which the existing network of charging stations in Gorenjska, in cooperation with Elektro Gorenjska, was updated from 3x16A per charging station to Type2, 22kW, technically supported charging stations. The project enabled the purchase and establishment of a back-office system and thus enabled the establishment of the first interoperable network of electric charging stations in Gorenjska, which later became part of the Gremonaelektrika network. This was followed by the Interreg Europe e-MOPOLI and Interreg AS e-SMART projects and the acquisition of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism project, ReMobil, for the establishment of Regional Mobility Centers in the Eastern and Western Cohesion Regions. In the e-MOPOLI project, together with the Ministry of Infrastructure and IJZP, we prepared proposals for measures to promote e-mobility for the OP ECP 2021-2027, which were successfully included in the draft document of the Operational Program. At the same time, in the testing phase of the e-MOPOLI action plan, we also included the municipality of Kranj, which thus gained support for the preparation of project documentation for the introduction of charging infrastructure for electric buses and for the purchase of electric buses. In e-SMART, one of the main outputs, beside the Technical and Operational Roadmaps, is the preparation of a prototype DSS - digital system to support the decision to set up charging infrastructure for electric buses and heavy duty vehicles’ logistics, for public administration, the energy sector and other investors in charging infrastructure transnationally in the Alpine Space. RDA Gorenjska, BSC Kranj plans further activities to support the introduction of electric mobility, which includes also hydrogen, while continuing steps towards comprehensive mobility planning within the region, as well as interregional cooperation in planning functional, user-friendly and cleaner mobility.