Via BENEFIC, there are plans to undertake an additional 11 projects to improve cross-border infrastructure for environmentally friendly vehicles. These projects will be carried out by the autumn of 2020. They will be implemented in Flanders, the Brussels-Capital Region and the Netherlands and involve establishing 53 additional charging and filling points for passenger cars, electric taxis, electric buses, freight transport and inland waterway vessels. Subsidies totalling EUR 1.666.477 are being granted for (ultra)fast charging infrastructure, hydrogen filling stations and shore power installations. The Flemish minister for Energy, Ms Peeters, gave the projects final approval. The tenderers have a year and a half in which to implement the projects. BENEFIC is part of the EU programme 'Connecting Europe Facility', funded by the European Commission. The Flemish Department of the Environment is coordinating the project.
A lot of people now opt for environmentally friendly vehicles. With the implementation of BENEFIC, the partners (the Department of the Environment and the Department of Mobility and Public Works for Flanders, Brussels Environment and Brussels Mobility for the Brussels Capital Region and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management for the Netherlands) are aiming to achieve a definitive breakthrough for clean and green transport technologies. The cooperation also removes the barriers to cross-border transport. At the same time, the partners are implementing the European ‘Clean Power for Transport’ directive and fulfilling Belgian and Dutch ambitions in this area.
BENEFIC is an innovative project in terms of the cross-border cooperation and the broad range of fuel technologies involved. BENEFIC adopts a unique approach which involved organising two calls for projects aimed at public- and private-sector partners using European funds. This gives investors the chance to undertake projects on an affordable basis. Following two calls for projects, which took place in the spring and autumn of 2018, 33 of the 49 projects submitted were selected and granted subsidies totalling EUR 7.324.232.
