France agrees incentives for battery-powered construction equipment

Battery powered construction equipment – including charging operations and electrical retrofits – are now eligible to apply for financial incentives in France under the energy savings certficates scheme (CEE, Certificats d’Économies d’Énergie).

CINERGIC, a consortium of trade associations comprising DLR (rental/distributors), EVOLIS (manufacturers), FFB and FNTP (contractor organisations), and SEIMAT (construction equipment OEMs and suppliers), said it welcomed as a “major breakthrough” a new decree formalising the eligibility of electrical construction equipment for financial aid.

DLR said the scheme, which will be open until 2028, will provide financial support for the energy transition of the construction equipment fleet in France.

“This announcement is a major achievement for CINERGIC”, said DLR, “It is the culmination of more than 18 months of collective work, which began with the development of the National Roadmap for the Decarbonization of Construction Machinery”.

The association added that CINERGIC was scheduled to meet ADEME - the French government agency in charge of the energy transition - on Tuesday 2 September “to define the operational contours of the call for [CEE elligible] projects and the concrete terms of its implementation for construction companies.”

Richard Cleveland, spokesperson for the construction equipment group within EVOLIS, the French manufacturers association, said the announcement of the incentive measure is the first step in a broader project; “The challenge now is to work closely with our members and the French administration to design this incentive programme in such a way as to make it as easy as possible for French companies to implement.

“We also need to tailor the financial aid to the current range of electric mobile machines on the French market and the economic gap that exists between electric models and their combustion engine equivalents.”

The CEE certification scheme has been in operation in France since 2005 and is the main mechanism for promoting and incentivising carbon reduction in the energy sector.

CINERGIC’s objective is to support and accelerate the decarbonisation of construction equipment, by bringing together manufacturers, distributors, rental companies, users, energy companies and public authorities.