What is TEN-T?
The Trans European Transport Network is an EU grant program to fund high priority transportation infrastructure projects to support the movement of people and goods throughout the EU. GreenWay was awarded two separate grants under this program, for the Green Hubs Project and the Central European Green Corridors Project.
TEN-T Project Developments and Milestones
TEN-T Final Report ENG
TEN-T Final Report SVK
Project completion
The TEN-T project, supported by the European Commission, finished on 31.12.2020 and met all of its objectives. Now that much of the infrastructure is installed it will continue to be used even though the project itself is finished. The activities connected with the project will continue at their current pace and hopefully even grow, protecting more of Slovakia from noise and CO2 pollution. The European Union supported project has helped to launch a new segment of the Slovak economy, with great potential to spread onto other markets.
GreenWay Conference: Electromobility and its possibilities in light freight transport
The conference took place on December 9, 2020 on the premises of Hotel Blue Bratislava with a range of guests from both private and public sectors.The focus of the conference was the presentation of results and lessons learned from the construction and operation of battery swap and fast charging infrastructure for electric cars. The main speakers at the conference were key people who helped to implement this project such as Peter Badík, Rastislav Lauko and others. The results presented raised an interesting discussion with pointers for further development of electromobility in Slovakia, especially regarding its introduction into commercial operation. Brochure on the Action results were distributed among the quests.
Producing expert studies
A main objective of this project was to compile expert studies, which comprise knowledge and experiences gained from the pilot operation of installing battery swap stations and fast chargers. The studies address three basic subjects:
- comparing battery swap technologies with fast charging, as seen from the perspective of clients from the business sector,
- the economic aspects of electromobility in logistics and new business opportunities arising from the use of electromobility services, and
- the benefits the electromobility services in the field of logistics bring to the environment.
All studies were realized as planned and were presented at the conference organized by GreenWay on December 9, 2020
TEN T Days in Riga - Summary
We are happy to share with you the outcome of the very productive TEN-T days event in Riga. Innovation had a major role in the event, including the opening panel that was dedicated to different innovation pipelines (e.g. financing tools, e-mobility and LNG).
Specifically, E-mobility had a substantial part in the event and created a lot of attention by demonstrating an indoor stand, dedicated workshop to EV fast charging infrastructure, and outdoor presentation of test drives and charging poles.
The indoor stand was a joint effort of 7 projects working together in order to highlight their main results, messages and future challenges. The indoor stand included the following elements:
· Joint video that was prepared especially for this event. Watch our joint e-mobility projects video on YouTube:
· Interactive information kiosk that contained detailed information on each project
· Multi-standard charging station demonstrating different fast charging capabilities and enabling the visitors to experience and explore the charger
· Representatives from the different EV projects that were able to interact with the visitors and to answer all their questions
· Violeta Bulc, Member of the EC in charge of Transport visited the stand together with Anrijs Matiss, Latvian Transport Minister
The e-mobility workshop covered the increasing need to develop a European e-mobility market. It also covered the challenges faced in creating a sustainable market for the future including issues around power limitations and energy supply as well as the need for the continued development of multi-sector consortia to ensure continued support into infrastructure from both private and public investors.
Test drives were provided by different OEM partners in order to enable people to experience and drive electric vehicles, mostly for the first time.
Launching pilot operations
Not many EVs grace the roads of Slovakia. Greenway’s new project promises to change this. Under the TEN-T program the European Commission decided to put its weight behind advancing electric vehicles – to build two new charging stations in Slovakia. These stations will offer, in addition to fast charging, the possibility of battery swap.
What gas refueling is to conventional vehicles, battery charging/swapping is to EVs. That is why we, in cooperation with our partners and contractors, are keen on building new fast charging/battery swap stations. The two above-mentioned stations are to be located near Trenčín and Banská Bystrica. This is how we hope to bring electromobility to more people and entice the firms to use electric for freight transport.
Kickoff event: Breakfast with journalists
Representatives of the GreenWay company, together with officials from the European Commission Slovakia and Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic, met on 17 December 2020 for a business breakfast with people from media, introducing Action „The Commercial deployment of interurban EV freight logistics infrastructure, including a comparison study of battery swap and fast charge technology“, a project subsidized by the European Commission’s TEN-T project.
After the meeting, a press release with project’s main findings was issued. The release is below or could be downloaded here.
Press Release
TEN-T projects are not solely about building classic road, water, or rail infrastructure, but also about promoting alternative, environmentally acceptable transport.
The Slovak Republic strongly supports the reduction of pollution in accordance with international agreements. To achieve the ambitious targets for improving the quality of environment the public support needs to be focused on encouraging innovative private companies whose products help to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere.
Greenway is one such company – the first European company that offers electric vehicles to carriers in the form of a comprehensive service as a cost competitive and environmentally friendly alternative to internal combustion vehicles. The result is a unique service that frees customers from risks associated with the operation of electric vehicles, delivering cost savings compared to conventional vehicle operation while being environmentally friendly. At the same time Greenway is a builder and the proprietor of a fast charging infrastructure, allowing complementarity and streamlining to benefit electric vehicle end-users whose numbers are rising rapidly throughout Europe.
The EU demonstrated their interest in alternative modes of transport, particularly the idea of innovation that is friendly to environment, by supporting a Greenway project, namely the “Commercial deployment of inter-urban EV freight logistics infrastructure, including comparison study of battery swap and fast charge technology” in the amount of € 1,703,976, 50% of which is to be financed by the European Union.
The project aims to build two stations that will combine fast charging and battery swap technologies, further developing the fast charging and battery swap station infrastructure in Slovakia. A number of scientific studies comparing usability of different charging systems and analysing other aspects of electromobility are to be written as a part of the project. This project will also help to showcase Slovakia’s ability to adopt and innovatively implement the latest technologies.
Greenway company continues developing their activities in Slovakia. The aim is to build a smart network of fast charging stations that will be able to communicate with other fast charging systems in Europe and remove barriers of national markets, making EU one big market for electromobility. Thanks also to these EU-funded projects Greenway is becoming one of the leaders in electromobility development in the entire EU.
Starting the implementation
A long process preceded the actual construction of battery swap stations. It included identifying suitable sites, negotiating with owners, drawing up documents for construction proceedings, and securing technological innovations needed to get the best implementation possible. In early December 2014 all preparatory work was complete and the infrastructure construction ready to begin.
European Commission press release
You can download the press release here.
Why are we doing this
Electric cars are generally thought of as best suited for short distance travel and city traffic. On one hand this reflects their current technical limitations, but hampers their higher adoption, notwithstanding economic advantages. Advantages, which can trump those of combustion engines, but start to be fully evident only when EVs are being used over long distances, or short distances but frequently. These two modes of operation are key in achieving economic dominance of electric cars. The focus on the right market segment and holistic approach in creating the system that reduces risks on the part of users are the way to achieve that success.
As mentioned electric car range can be extended by longer distances or repeated shorter routes. And that is precisely how suburban and interurban small freight transport usually operates.
But a few problems need to be addressed first: charging infrastructure, technological reliability, minimizing business risks etc.
TEN-T project main goals
We want to construct two new stations in Banská Bystrica and Vel’ké Bierovce, equipped with fast charging and battery swap technologies. The stations, added to those already in Bratislava and Nitra, will form a compact network over economically important regions of Slovakia. Every station will be also equipped with fast charging stands conforming to EU standards.
The freight transport significantly contributes to reducing CO 2 emissions and particulate matter in the air. The use of electric cars will thus lead not only to a significant business innovation, but also technological innovation.
Our main goals
- Building battery swap and fast charging infrastructure – to create an integrated network of stations in West and Central Slovakia.
- The introduction of comprehensive services for small freight transport enterprises - providing the van, charging infrastructure and overall customer service support.
- To evaluate options this type of electromobility offers. The results will be presented in three studies – comparing fast charging and battery swap technologies, exploring different business models for electromobility in small freight transport, and assessing benefits to environment that electromobility in logistics brings.
Map of energy hubs in Slovakia
