The project 'Infragreen – hållbar infrastruktur i gränsland' promoted the cross-border knowledge exchange of electromobility and biogas as a fuel for vehicles in Sweden and Norway.
- 20 October 2015
The EU funding helped both to gather a group of key actors to act towards a common goal and to facilitate the implementation. The EU funding helped lower the threshold for testing new technology (e.g. electrical vehicles in municipal car fleets).
The highway connecting Oslo and Gothenburg has been designated as a demonstration route for charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, but while Sweden has a proven track record in biogas for cars, prior to the Infragreen project there were very few fast chargers on the Swedish side. The project led to the establishment of this needed infrastructure in Sweden, while adding to the existing network for biogas in Norway.
The project achieved these aims through the support of knowledge transfer and dissemination activities. Five major workshops and several smaller ones were held in Sweden, while in Norway start-up workshops were held and a conference was organised to encourage dialogue among the towns and suppliers taking part in the project. Media activities accompanied these events.
"The main long-term impacts of the project are the awareness of the new possibilities with electromobility and the political will to take a leadership for sustainable transport," says Sara Borgström, an Energy Coordinator.
Infrastructure building
A total of 122 chargers and 14 fast-charging points were installed during the project. The project also supported the establishment of two compressed biogas-fuelling stations. Moreover, municipalities in the Infragreen region were offered a free trial of electric or methane vehicles for a month and users were encouraged to post their experiences online.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Infragreen – hållbar infrastruktur i gränsland” was SEK 2 778 000 (approximately EUR 291 700) of which the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributed SEK 1 528 000 (approximately EUR 163 550) from the Operational Programme ‘Sweden-Norway’ for the 2007 to 2013 programming period.