The state announces assistance in the installation of electrical terminals in small service stations

According to the latest data from Ufip Energies and Mobilities, there are 11,151 filling stations in France, just over half of which are still owned by independent companies. But these small filling stations, if they are in the majority, sell only 37% of annual fuel sales in volume terms. Over the years, it has been increasingly difficult for them to withstand competition from gas stations of large retail chains, which have brought fuel to the leaders in terms of losses.

Even if the spate of closures that almost quadrupled the number of filling stations in France between 1980 and 2010 seems to have ended, maintaining these stations, especially in rural areas, remains an important regional planning issue. “Thanks to their territorial network and the social cohesion role they play throughout France, small independent gas stations should be key players in the energy transition, closer to the French people. This is the whole point of this assistance that we are implementing and which will speed up the installation of electric charging stations in our country,” welcomed Agnès Panier-Runashe, Minister of Ecological Transition.

Faced with this situation, the Ministers of Economy, Ecological Transition and SMEs, Commerce, Crafts and Tourism have just announced an increase in assistance to small independent service stations to speed up their modernization, into the energy transition service.

Other aids already in place

At the end of August, first aid was introduced, allowing, according to the government, small gas stations to apply a discount on fuel until the end of 2022. This subsidy of EUR 3,000 or EUR 6,000 depending on the average monthly volume of fuel sold in 2021 “already allowed to support 880 filling stations: 580 small filling stations selling less than 500 hl of fuel per month and 290 filling stations selling more than 500 hl of fuel per month. fuel per month.

The second assistance is to modernize small service stations and confirm their important role in the electrification of mobility. “An envelope for 10 million euros has been opened to co-finance the deployment of charging stations for electric vehicles at independent service stations,” the ministries said.

Gas stations that sell less than 2,500 m3 of fuel per year, that is, more than 4,000 gas stations, apply for this assistance. Condition: The charging station must be installed in an independent service station and located in a medium or rural density municipality in accordance with the INSEE 7-level density grid of the municipality.

These plants will be able to apply for co-financing from the state in the amount of 60 to 70% of the installation cost. “Funding provided by the state may be supplemented by funding that can be mobilized under Energy Conservation Certificate (ECE) programs,” the government warns. This assistance must be requested from the French Agency for Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) from 1 December.