As Oy Arabianranta: Full renovation for the parking area - what does it cost?
The largest complex of eTolppa charging devices in Finland can be found in Arabianranta, Helsinki. All parking spaces in the parking complex, which includes more than 30 housing companies and 1,400 parking spaces, are equipped with eTolppa charging devices.
As Oy Arabianranta in Helsinki , which also included mapping out the possibility of charging electric cars. Initially, the implementation of charging points had not been precisely defined, but the housing company wanted to take advantage of the renovations to modernize the company's parking area.
Project background information
Yard spaces: 9
Facilities: 9 apartments, 2 commercial buildings, 2 commercial premises
Ownership: The housing company owns all the places.
Planning started: 2019
Project schedule: 5-12/2021
Preliminary total cost estimate: 350 000–400 000 €
The housing company decided to proceed with the principle "when it's done, it's done properly", which resulted in a tender for electric car charging stations. The chosen ones were charging devices that also enable remote-controlled car heating.
After commercial negotiations, the housing company ordered the charging devices and the eParking service directly from IGL-Technologies Oy. The installation was carried out by a previously selected electrical contractor. At the same time, a new billing policy was adopted, in which users pay for their own electricity consumption. The ElektrA series from our partner Harju Elekter was selected as the device collection, which offers an 11 kW charging point and a socket for heating the car.
Previously, electricity costs were included in the fee, but in the future, charging electricity will be invoiced according to consumption at a price decided by the housing company and the money will be paid directly to the housing company's account via the eParking system without commission. The housing company's own VAT rate is used in the invoicing, which in this company was 0%. The cost of the invoicing service and the monthly operating price will be invoiced directly from the housing company twice a year.
The implemented system also brought significant benefits to the housing company's administrative work. Charging space queuing and rental payments are handled automatically through the eParking system, which reduces the workload of the property manager and accountant. Payments are charged directly to users, and monitoring is done through the system without manual work.
Marko Hakkarainen the chairman of the housing company's board .
– Originally, the intention was just to install new heating equipment, but we also considered more modern and remote-controlled solutions. In addition, the asphalt in the yard was in poor condition, so it made sense to replace it at the same time, Hakkarainen sums up.
“The housing company wanted a smart and modern system without separate meters for each parking space that the property manager would have to read annually. We also wanted flexibility so that the system would support both traditional car heating and electric car charging now and in the future,” Hakkarainen continues.
Costs and grants
The housing company managed the project itself. The housing company received 50% of the ARA grant for the project, or 27,000 euros out of 54,000 euros.
Work carried out by an electrical contracting company:
Installation of a new group center
Export of new cables for charging devices
Installations, connections and measurements of charging devices
Installing a modem for remote management
Costs and financing:
Electrical work: €13,000
Charging equipment: €16,000
Excavation work for the electrical contract: €25,000
Yard work and culverts: over 90% of total costs
ARA grant: 50% (€27,000)
The average additional cost of charging points per location was approximately €670 compared to installing heating poles alone. In total, the construction of charging points cost €45,000 per location.
Notes on the project
The company's yard was in need of renovation, and renovation was coming anyway. Therefore, the total costs cannot be directly compared to a situation where the charging points were built as a separate project.
In larger projects, it is important to look at the whole picture. Previously, there was no technology available that would allow electricity consumption, such as heating use, to be allocated directly to users. However, this is possible with eTolp.
The charging points increase the value of the housing company. Each parking space is equipped with remote-controlled heating and an 11 kW charging point. This makes the housing company particularly attractive to electric car owners, as the popularity of electric cars is constantly growing. The housing company in question is an excellent example of how a comprehensive solution can be implemented as part of a larger renovation, even if there are no users of the charging points at the beginning.
Load management was implemented at level 1 of the eParking cloud service, where the load was limited to a 63A front fuse and three 25A groups. Load management took into account charging, car heating electricity and other consumption from devices.
The law did not require the implementation of charging readiness, but in this case it made sense because the renovation was planned anyway. According to the law, a major renovation is defined as “a renovation where the total cost based on the reconstruction costs of repairs related to the building envelope or the building’s technical systems exceeds 25 percent of the value of the building, excluding the value of the building land” (Source: Finlex ). Although in this case the legal requirement did not yet apply to this project, adding charging readiness made sense because the renovation was timely anyway.
Charging point readiness means that the parking space is piped or wired so that a charging point can be installed later. The law applies to housing companies with at least four parking spaces. Charging points are not mandatory, but housing companies must ensure that charging points can be installed later on all parking spaces. This obligation applies to construction projects for which permit applications have been submitted on or after 11 March 2021 (Source: Finlex ).
For the reference, Marko Hakkarainen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of As Oy Arabianranta, has been interviewed.
