ADMINISTRACIÓN GUBERNAMENTAL DE INGRESOS PÚBLICOS

Question 11.a: For the schemes approved by the Commission, indicate how the projects have been implemented: companies involved in the projects, tender criteria used for the selection of companies (where applicable), costs of project, selected technology (when the scheme was open to several technologies), how access of the users to the infrastructure was organized (entirely open or not) and how much the user is charged for the access to and/or the use of the infrastructure.

In order to provide input for assessing the relevance of State aid measures in the field of alternative fuel infrastructure, and in response to Question 11.a, the review started with an assessment of the nine schemes and two amendments for the support of publicly accessible or dedicated alternative fuel infrastructure, which were approved by the Commission. After an analysis of the publicly available information, the beneficiaries of the schemes were identified. In case of lack of publicly available information, the granting authorities were contacted with an inquiry regarding the disclosure of the beneficiaries. Based on the answers received, the relevant stakeholders were contacted by phone and e-

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mail in order to ensure the participation in the survey. Five granting authorities provided the main characteristics of the implementation of the State aid decisions. More detailed answers are provided in Annex 11.1.

(1) Germany - Charging infrastructure for e-mobility (SA.46574)

The measure under scheme SA.46574 aims to support the installation and upgrade of electric charging infrastructure across Germany. The total budget of the scheme is EUR 300 million coming from federal funds (Energy and Climate Fund). The program runs for four years, starting in 2017. The beneficiaries of the schemes are natural and legal persons, without restrictions (both private investors and cities/municipalities).

The aid is awarded in the form of grants by means of calls for applications. So far, the first three calls for funding have received more than 4,000 applications for funding. As of August 2019, applications have been approved for a total of more than 17,000 charging points (equivalent to around EUR 80 million). On 19 August 2019 the fourth call for funding started, with a deadline for applications on 30 October 2019. Following the Commission decision, an eligibility criterion is that the electricity required for the charging process must come from renewable energy sources (RES) or from renewable electricity self-generated on site. According to the granting authority, 5,200 of the supported charging points are already in operation and more than 1,600 beneficiaries were involved in the project. As agreed with the Commission, information of 56 beneficiaries was gathered, based on a sample list with regard to the first three calls for applications. The total amount of aid granted to the selected beneficiaries, which have a total charging capacity of 404,568 KW, amounts to EUR 66,157,556.51. The following section provides an overview of the actual implementation of the scheme:

Tender criteria: The first call for applications, which was launched on 15 February 2017,

was based on the first-come, first-served principle. This means that aid was granted to a beneficiary according to the order of the reception of the complete application. With the first call the authority supported standard charging points up to EUR 10 million as well as 2,500 fast charging points. Normal charging points were supported with up to 40% of the eligible costs with a maximum of EUR 3,000 per charging point. Fast charging points were supported with up to 40% of the eligible costs with a maximum of EUR 12,000 per charging point under 100 KW and EUR 30,000 per charging point from 100 KW onwards. The maximum number of fast charging points for each of the 16 Federal States has been indicated by the authority in the call (2,500 in total).

With the second call for applications, which was launched on 14 September 2017, 12,100 normal charging points and 1,001 fast charging points (with 150 KW) as well as modernisation measures were supported. Normal charging points were supported with a maximum of 40% of the eligible costs and a maximum of EUR 2,500 per charging point. Fast charging points were supported with a maximum of 40% of the eligible costs and a maximum of EUR 30,000 per charging point. The maximum number of both standard and fast charging points for each of the 16 Federal States has been indicated by the authority. Once the applications have reached the maximum number of charging points in a Federal State, the selection process was based on the principle of economic efficiency (best-value- for-money), meaning that a contract was awarded to the tenderer offering the best quality- price ratio in a Federal State. The authority therefore created a ranking with the most efficient applicants, which was based on the support per KW charging capacity. There were two rankings and selection processes for standard and fast charging points respectively. The granting authority awarded the aid to the applicants with the lowest grants requested

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per KW of total charging capacity of the charging infrastructure to be set up. Grid connection costs were not considered as relevant in the selection process.

The third call for applications was launched on 19 November 2018 with the aim to support ca. 10,000 standard charging and 3,000 fast charging points. For this call, in order to reach a regional coverage in the entire country, the authority established two charging maps, one for standard charging points and one for fast charging points. For both maps, the country was divided into 283 tiles with a size of 40 km x 40 km per tile. This should be an indicator for the needs for charging infrastructure and indicating a maximum number of charging points to be approved. Moreover, in the fast charging point map there are different colours used: blue colour indicates a higher and yellow a lower demand of charging points. Normal charging points were supported with a maximum of 40% of the eligible costs and a maximum of EUR 2,500 per charging point. Fast charging points (50- 100 KW) in the blue area were supported with a maximum of 50% of the eligible costs and a maximum of EUR 12,000 per charging point. Fast charging points with 100 KW and more were supported with a maximum of EUR 30,000. In the yellow areas, fast charging points (50-100 KW) were supported with a maximum of 30% of the eligible costs and a maximum of EUR 9,000. Fast charging points with 100 KW and more were supported with a maximum of EUR 23,000. In addition, the call aimed to provide support for the grid connection with a maximum of EUR 5,000 for the connection to the low voltage network and a maximum of EUR 50,000 to the medium voltage grid. Modernisation measures for the improvement or replacement of charging infrastructure was supported with a maximum of 40% of the eligible costs. As in the second call, the authority selected the beneficiaries based on aspects of economic efficiency of their applications, i.e. the granting of aid was based on the support per KW charging capacity.

The fourth call for applications was launched on 19 August 2019 with the aim to support ca. 5,000 normal charging and 5,000 fast charging points. As in the third call for applications, the authority established one map for standard charging points and one map for fast charging points and therefore divided Germany into tiles (40km to 40km). Moreover, in the map for fast charging points different colours were used: blue colour indicates a higher and grey a lower demand of charging points. Normal charging points were supported with a maximum of 40% of the eligible costs and a maximum of EUR 2,500 per charging point. Fast charging points (50-100 KW) in the blue area were supported with a maximum of 50% of the eligible costs and a maximum of EUR 12,000 per charging point. Fast charging points with 100 KW and more were supported with a maximum of EUR 30,000. In the grey areas, fast charging points (50-100 KW) were supported with a maximum of 30% of the eligible costs and a maximum of EUR 9,000. Fast charging points with 100 KW and more were supported with a maximum of EUR 23,000. As in the third call for applications, also grid connection and modernisation measures were supported (same amount as in the third call for application).

Costs and duration of construction of the project: The granting authority indicated that due

to the large number of funded projects, the investment costs can vary between a thousand euros for smaller standard charging points and several million euros for large fast-charging projects. Therefore, based on the sample lists of beneficiaries, the minimum costs of one project is estimated around EUR 10,685 and the maximum costs are estimated around EUR 28.6 million. The amount of aid received varies as well from EUR 3,693 to EUR 10.99 million. The duration of the construction of the electric infrastructure stations varies between half a year and three years.

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Geographical scope: The approved projects have a broad scope, covering the whole

country. As explained in the tender specifications, the granting authority established a regional distribution covering the needs of a certain area. Thus, the projects approved are implemented at national level, some of them covering the whole country, and some of them some specific regions.

Technology: The infrastructure of the projects implemented relates to standard charging

and/or fast charging stations. Therefore, the projects implemented by the beneficiaries cover either both types of charging, or just one of them. The majority of the projects cover standard charging.

Access to infrastructure: In the first call for applications, the full financial support was only

granted if the infrastructure is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, otherwise the funding rate will be cut by 50%. It is nevertheless necessary that the infrastructure is accessible during the week at least for 12 hours per day. In the second, third and fourth call for applications it is explicitly required that the charging points were accessible 24/7.

Charges: The fees for the use of the funded charging facilities vary depending on the tariff

of the respective provider. Some operators are also offering free usage of their charging infrastructure. The user charges range from EUR 0.29/KWh to EUR 8 per charging session. The costs mainly depend on the duration of the charging session as well as on the charging power.

General comments: In follow-up interviews, the beneficiaries contacted indicated that the

general difficulties faced were related to the practical implementation of the project, especially because of the large geographical scope of their project.142 _{Since the receipt of}

subsidies binds the beneficiary to certain procurement regulations, it is often difficult to plan the construction of charging infrastructure nationwide on a larger scale. Another difficulty mentioned was the gain of know-how for the installation of the projects, which could be either acquired by third parties or inhouse.

(2) Germany - Acquisition of electric buses for urban public transport (SA.48190)

The scheme aims to support the acquisition of plug-in hybrid buses and battery-based buses in public passenger transport, to replace diesel buses and to increase the number of electric buses in public transport in Germany. The scheme also supports recharging infrastructure in connection with the purchase of plug-in hybrid or battery-based buses. The total budget is EUR 70 million and the scheme will be in place until the end of 2021. EUR 35 million should be made available at federal level under the National Climate Initiative. The overall budget at federal level was increased, with the amendment of 28 May 2018 (SA.50776 (2018/N)), to EUR 155 million. With the amendment of 4 February 2019 (SA.52677 (2018/N)) the budget was increased to EUR 350 million. The beneficiaries are commercial undertakings and public entities providing public passenger transport services. The support is granted as investment aid to cover the additional costs of acquiring low emission electric buses compared to diesel buses as well as the respective recharging infrastructure. The granting procedure follows a transparent, non-discriminatory procedure. According to the granting authority, twelve bus companies have received State

142 _{Interview with EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG conducted on 14 October 2019; interview with}

Lechwerke AG, conducted on 21 October 2019; interview with Pfalzwerke Aktiengesellschaft conducted on 21 October 2019.

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aid under the scheme. Additional information on the actual implementation of the project was collected via publicly available sources. The following section provides an overview:

Tender criteria: Aid may only be granted for plug-in hybrid buses, electric buses, and

electric charging infrastructure in connection with the purchase of such buses. The tender is organised in a two-stage process. After the call for applications, the interested parties first submit a meaningful project outline in which the conditions for a possible support have to be proven. Provided the prerequisites have been fulfilled and the project outline is selected, the second stage will take place by sending out to the relevant stakeholders an invitation to submit a formal application for funding. The tender criteria include: (i) project outline (40%), number of new battery or plug-in hybrid buses and integration in the fleet; power supply for auxiliary units; expected use of subsidized vehicles; (ii) reduction of greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions and ratio of greenhouse gas emissions avoided and

support needs (25%); (iii) contribution to compliance with air quality limit values and requirements of the EU Environmental Noise Directive (25%); (iv) role model impact, transferability of results, visibility through public relations (10%). Therefore, eligible projects must aim at the purchase of plug-in hybrid and/or battery electric buses, and the project must meet different standard criteria (e.g. technical specification for purchase of new vehicles; more than five vehicles need to be procured; vehicles need to be used in public transport; use of renewable energy needs to be ensured; profitability calculation should be done). Other specifications include the reduction by at least 35% of the CO2

emission compared to a bus without hybrid technology; the need for the bus to meet the Euro VI standards, and a limitation of noise emissions to 73 dB or 76 dB, depending on the engine power).

Costs and duration of the construction of the project: The costs of the project vary for each

beneficiary, depending on the type and scope of each project. The average costs of the projects is EUR 20.7 million, ranging from EUR 1.9 million up to EUR 64.96 million. The beneficiaries received aid between EUR 761,570 and EUR 44.8 million, whereas the majority of the costs and granted aid relates to the acquisition of buses (and less to the recharging infrastructure). The maximum aid intensity for plug-in hybrid buses and recharging infrastructure is 40% of the eligible investment costs. For battery buses, the maximum aid intensity amounts to 80% of the eligible investment costs. The duration of the project depends on whether the project is related to the purchase of battery buses/plug-in hybrid buses; or to the construction of recharging infrastructure, the average duration being three years.

Geographical scope: The geographical scope of the projects is restricted to the respective

cities in which the bus companies operate.

Technology: The technology used for the projects is the standard charging as well as fast

charging stations.

Access of users to infrastructure: The infrastructure is dedicated to actual beneficiaries

only (commercial undertakings and public entities providing public passenger transport services) who access their own charging infrastructure in the bus depots and in public areas at (last) stops of public transport. The beneficiaries indicated that buses are charged at last stop/turning point of routes and/or in the bus depots. The beneficiaries explained that this saves expensive investments (road space is limited, difficult to find suitable locations). Moreover, if the bus route changes, the charging station on the initial route cannot be approached anymore. Charging in bus depots allows more operational flexibility and is easier to monitor and control.

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Charges: There are no charges for the use of the infrastructure.

(3) Germany - Alternative power supply for cruise ships in the Hamburg City Port/Altona-HafenCity (SA.37322)

The measure has an environmental objective and concerns two connection facilities: a static shore-side power supplying connection fed by the national electricity grid in the Altona cruise terminal and an infrastructure for the provision of electricity by liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered ships at the HafenCity cruise terminal for cruise ships in the Hamburg City Port, to provide an alternative source of energy supply during a port call. Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) is in charge of the project. The following section provides an overview of the actual implementation of the scheme:

Tender criteria: There was no tender carried out as HPA is the only beneficiary. HPA is also

the owner of the new infrastructure.

Costs and duration of construction of the project: Besides the support by national funds

(ca. EUR 3.7 million), the project was also supported by EU funds amounting to ca. EUR 3.5 million.143 _{The duration of the construction was 2.5 years (for further details see annex}

11.1).

Geographical scope: The geographical area covered by the project is the Hamburg City

Port (Altona-HafenCity).

Technology: The electricity provided via the infrastructure is not used for recharging, but

serves cruise ships as an alternative energy supply while they are lying down in the Port of Hamburg. The shore connection provides: voltage supply from the public grid (10kV), frequency converter (from 50 Hz to 60 Hz), mobile transfer station including cable management system.

Access of users to infrastructure: Cruise ship companies are able to acquire electricity

charging services directly and have non-discriminatory access to the infrastructure. The access is based mainly on the use of the cruise terminal.

Charges: The usage fees are ca. EUR 2,800 (for handling the transfer trolley and switching

the system on/off), plus the variable costs depending on the amount of electricity purchased.

(4) Portugal – PO SEUR Programme for Clean Buses in urban areas (SA.45694)

This scheme aims to support the purchase of new low carbon buses and the costs of the infrastructure necessary to operate these buses, with the objective to reduce polluting emission of public buses in Portugal. The public support of the measure comes from the Cohesion Fund to 85% of the eligible costs, while 15% are supported by the bus operators. The total budget is EUR 60 million and each beneficiary can benefit from a maximum funding of EUR 20 million. The scheme will last until 31 December 2020. With the amendment of 16 May 2018, the Portuguese authorities increased the budget by EUR 30 million. The modification does not affect the duration of the scheme. Out of EUR 60 million ca. EUR 47 million were actually allocated to the beneficiaries. The maximum aid allocated to one beneficiary was EUR 14.72 million. The following section provides an overview of the actual implementation of the scheme:

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Tender criteria: The scheme is based on a bidding process available to any operator with

a public service remit that runs a bus service in urban areas in Portugal. The main criteria of the selection process were (i) contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions (35%); (ii)

contribution to the promotion of the use of renewable energy in transport (25%); (iii) evaluation of the economic rationale of the intervention (40%). Out of eleven applications, nine projects have been approved. They are related to the acquisition of vehicles for public urban passenger transport using cleaner energy sources (compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, electric power, hydrogen). Consequently, the scheme is open to (i) Euro VI compressed natural gas (CNG) or LNG buses; (ii) electric buses or electricity hybrid buses and (iii) hydrogen buses. Applicants could also receive aid for the installation of charging or re-filling stations and other actions like technical assistance or monitoring, which is however conditional to the acquisition of clean buses and limited to 20% of the total eligible