Portugal's EDP to stick with EV charging target after EU e-fuel compromise

By Susanna Twidale

OXFORD, England (Reuters) - Portugal's largest utility, EDP, said a compromise by the European Commission to allow the sale of cars running on e-fuels after 2035 would not impact the company’s target to roll out electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

European Union countries' energy ministers on Tuesday gave approval to the bloc's law to end sales of new CO2-emitting cars in 2035, after Germany won an exemption for cars running on e-fuels.

The policy had been expected to make it impossible to sell combustion engine cars in the EU from 2035. The exemption won by Germany offers the potential for continued sales of traditional vehicles - although e-fuels are not yet produced at scale.

EDP CEO Miguel Stillwell D’Andrade said he didn’t think the compromise would have a significant impact on the growth of sales of EVs in Europe and would not impact the company's current plans to increase its EV charging sites.

“It was a compromise, but there is certainly still a lot of space for electric vehicles,” he said on the sidelines of the Aurora conference in Oxford, southern England.

“Primarily there is still a large deficit in terms of infrastructure and that will need to be built out over the next few years,” he said.

EDP has over 3,500 charging points in operation or development on the Iberian peninsula and aims to deliver more than 7,000 by 2026.

(Reporting by Susanna Twidale; Editing by Mark Potter)