Integrated energy company OMV Petrom said on July 27 that it signed a European funds contract to develop a network of more than 400 ultra-fast recharging points for electric cars in the region. Most of them will be located in Romania (328), with the rest planned for Slovakia (52) and Hungary (28).

The EV charging points will be installed along the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) by the end of 2025, the company said.

The financing contract was signed by the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and the Environment - CINEA and OMV Petrom Marketing, as coordinator of the application, with each of the OMV subsidiaries implementing the project in their respective countries.

The total investment in this project is estimated at approximately EUR 40 million, of which roughly EUR 15 million are provided from European funds through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). In addition, almost EUR 5 million represents bank credit from the Banca Comercială Română, with the rest being provided from own sources.

Christina Verchere, CEO of OMV Petrom, said: "Through the 2030 Strategy, we have undertaken to actively contribute to the energy transition in Romania and the region. We have started to develop solutions with low emissions and zero carbon, for which we propose to allocate about 35% of the estimated investments until 2030 of about EUR 11 billion."

Most of the charging points, namely 328, will be installed in 80 locations in Romania, 52 will be developed in 11 locations in Slovakia, and 28 will be installed in 7 locations in Hungary. Each charging point has an installed power of 150 kW, allowing charging in approximately 10-15 minutes, depending on the capacity of the vehicles, for an operating range of 200 km.

At the end of 2022, OMV Petrom announced that it would become the first energy company in the region with a network of power stations in four countries in South-East Europe, developed together with partners in the electric mobility sector. At the end of June, OMV Petrom had 150 recharging points in Petrom and OMV branded filling stations in Romania and the region.

The group is present on the oil products retail market in Romania and neighboring countries through approximately 780 filling stations under two brands – OMV and Petrom.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Mykyta Starychenko/Dreamstime.com)