EIB backs Eleport charging hub roll-out in Central and Eastern Europe

Central and Eastern European countries are set to gain hundreds of electric vehicle charging stations as a result of a €35m loan that network operator Eleport is receiving from the European Investment Bank (EIB). 

Eleport will use the EIB credit to deploy more than 250 fast-charging hubs at major shopping and commercial centres in Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Each station will feature as many as 12 charging plugs with power of up to 400 kilowatts (kW) per plug. 

The EIB loan advances European Union goals to cut car pollution and promote regional development. Tailor-made financing structures allow the EIB to support promising companies early in their growth journey by taking on higher credit risk thanks to backing from the InvestEU programme.

“Scaling up fast?charging infrastructure is essential to accelerate the shift to electric mobility and reduce emissions from road transport,” said EIB vice-president Karl Nehammer. “This operation demonstrates how we can provide innovative, long?term financing to fast?growing companies delivering high?impact sustainable infrastructure.”

Eleport, a startup based in the Estonian capital Tallinn and already active in Central and Eastern Europe. It currently operates more than 400 fast charging points (DCs) in six countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, and Croatia.

It is building an ‘Electric Amber Road’ – a network inspired by the ancient trade routes known as the Amber Road that connected the Baltic and Adriatic coasts. The project will allow cross-border drivers to use a single app for fast charging along the whole network. It plans to complete the project by 2028.

“This EIB loan is an important step in expanding reliable, high-quality charging infrastructure across Central and Eastern Europe,” said Eleport chief executive officer Jakub Miler. “Our goal is for electric-vehicle drivers to be able to stop where they already need to be, plug in briefly and move on with their day.”

The project is classified by the EIB as 100% climate action and environmental sustainability.

The EIB loan agreement is backed by the InvestEU programme, which aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment between 2021 and 2027. The InvestEU programme mobilises investment for EU policy priorities like the green transition, competitiveness, innovation and sustainable infrastructure.