ePowerMove develops smart, low-cost, and grid-flexible on-street electric vehicle charging. The Helsinki pilot will be conducted in Ruoholahti with local residents, VTT, UTU, and eParking.
Goals
Internationally, the ePowerMove project aims to optimize energy use by bringing advanced electric vehicle charging infrastructure into the grid. The project develops and tests the interaction of charging devices with the electricity grid to balance grid capacity and improve the use of renewable energy. It also promotes innovative charging device installations along streets to make electric driving possible on a large scale in European cities.
In practice, the project involves research, product development, and experiments related to the use of electric cars, business models for smart charging, affordable bidirectional (V2G, Vehicle-to-Grid) charging devices, and smart energy management.
In addition to Helsinki, there are pilots in Klagenfurt, Austria, and Nicosia, Cyprus. The Austrian pilot has a shared car fleet with which smart charging is being tested. The Cyprus pilot focuses especially on balancing the electricity grid.
Duration, partners, and funding
- Project duration: 1.1.2025–30.6.2028.
- The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe program for research and innovation. The total project budget is 7,993,719 euros, of which Forum Virium Helsinki’s share is 420,000 euros.
- The project involves a total of 18 European partners, and the project coordinator is ERTICO – ITS Europe. In addition to Forum Virium Helsinki, the Finnish partners include the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, EV charger manufacturer UTU Oy, and EV charging operator IGL-Technologies Oy (eParking).
Role of Forum Virium Helsinki
Forum Virium Helsinki supports VTT, UTU, and IGL in organizing the experiment in the Ruoholahti area. FVH establishes connections, communicates, and engages in joint development work with Ruoholahti residents, the City of Helsinki, and key stakeholders in the energy sector.
Internationally, in the ePowerMove project, Forum Virium Helsinki is also responsible for the further utilization (Exploitation) of the project’s results, among others, for cities, the automotive industry, EV charging operators, EV charger manufacturers, and the energy sector.
Benefits for Helsinki
The City of Helsinki learns about the possibilities of extensive EV charging and new types of on-street charging infrastructure. Ruoholahden Pysäköinti Oy already has over 1,200 parking spaces ready for EV charging, some of which will be equipped with new types of charging devices as part of the project. In addition, flexible energy solutions and the potential of electric cars as energy storage and part of grid flexibility will be learned.
Sustainability
The project supports the electrification of transport and the achievement of Helsinki’s carbon neutrality target. Transport is the largest source of climate emissions in Helsinki, and most of these emissions come from passenger cars. In Helsinki, there are over 30,000 passenger cars parked solely along the streets, so on-street charging plays a significant role in enabling the electrification of transport and reducing emissions.
Photo: Jussi Knuuttila