Portugal to roll out 1,000-plus e-car charging stations

Portugal is rolling out more than 1,000 new charging stations for electric vehicles with the help of Oracle and the non-profit association Inteli.

Part of the Portuguese government’s MOBI-E vehicle electrification project, the pilot will see the installation of 1,300 slow charging stations and 50 fast charging stations across 25 municipalities and the main highways throughout the country. The initiative is aimed at helping Portugal reduce both its reliance on fossil fuels and its carbon emissions.

Portugal currently produces around 43 percent of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and hydropower.

The MOBI-E platform will include Oracle Utilities’ Customer Care and Billing support to enable monthly flat rate and time-of-day rating of electricity consumption, network usage and/or additional service charging such as parking, roaming between electric vehicle (EV) operators and energy retailers, as well as the settlement and clearing of all transactions among the service providers. Oracle’s applications will also be used to integrate power equipment, charging infrastructure and energy management software.

“When we were faced with the complex value chain of MOBI-E, it was critical that we chose an IT player able to deliver the required robust technology solutions and integrated systems needed to meet the demands of the project,” said Luis Reis, director of mobility for Inteli. “Oracle was the obvious choice due to its commitment in the utilities sector and breadth of understanding of electric mobility solutions.”

“With motor vehicles being a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions and with an estimated 800 million motor vehicles on the road worldwide, e-mobility solutions are crucial if we are to meet the European Union’s 20-20-20 targets — to reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020,” added Bastian Fischer, vice president of Oracle Utilities, EMEA.