The revenue in British Columbia (BC) from selling Clean Fuel carbon credits from EV chargers is much higher than the rest of Canada.
Clean Fuel credits are government-regulated financial incentives that accelerate the locations of EV chargers across Canada. Credits provide funding for site hosts (such as fleet operators, condominium corporations, etc) and charger network operators to build and install EV chargers.
The amount of money you earn is dependent on several factors, such as the charge site’s provincial jurisdiction, the types of EVs you are charging, the total amount of energy supplied, and the agreed credit price.
Why can you potentially earn more credits in BC from EV chargers?
If you read our previous article, a Clean Fuel credit is an umbrella term we use for two types of credits: BC LCFC and Canada CFR.
The province of British Columbia already has a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit market in operation. Credits are being sold at more than $400 per credit. By adding the new Canada CFR credit market, EV chargers in BC can be used to generate CFR and BC LCFS credits at the same time. This is unusual as this allows for “credit stacking”, and this generates nearly twice the revenue.
Basically, take advantage right now since there is a serious lack of charging infrastructure. These kind of credit markets start to wind down when people stop worrying about EV charging (similar to how we don’t worry about finding gas stations).
Use-Case: BC
For 100,000 kWh of energy supplied per year for five years
The revenue is linearly proportional to the energy supplied. If a charge site supplies 10 times more energy than 100,000 kWh, then it’s a good estimate that it will earn 10x more gross revenue.
*Transaction and administrative fees: As with all regulated carbon markets, credits must be verified by a 3rd party auditor, which adds significant costs. However, Rewatt’s model is to work on a sliding fee schedule based on an organization’s volume. This is most beneficial for fleets or network operators.
Are there conditions to the revenue from clean fuel credits?
| Heavy-Duty | Light-Duty | Marine | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of BC LCFS credits over 5 years | 370 | 440 | 440 |
| BC LCFC Credit Price (conservative estimate) | $300.00 | $300.00 | $300.00 |
| Displaced fuel type (BC only) | Diesel | Gasoline | Gasoline |
| Number of CFR Credits over 5 years | 766 | 623 | 467 |
| CFR Credit Price (conservative estimate) | $150.00 | $150.00 | $150.00 |
| Gross Revenue over 5 years | $225,900 | $225,450 | $202,050 |
| Gross Revenue over 10 years | $443,850 | $444,750 | $399,000 |
| Transaction and Admin Fees* | 25 to 10%, sliding scale by volume | 25 to 10%, sliding scale by volume | 25 to 10%, sliding scale by volume |
| NET REVENUE per year | $33,000.00 to $40,000.00 |
$33,000.00 to $40,000.00 |
$29,000.00 to $36,000.00 |
| NET REVENUE over 5 years | $169,425.00 to $203,310.00 |
$169,087.00 to $202,905.00 |
$151,537.50 to $181,845.00 |
| NET REVENUE over 10 years (with renewal) | $350,257.50 to $399,465.00 |
$342,262.50 to $400,275.00 |
$299,250.00 to $359,100.00 |
Yes, there are.
We’ve written about this in the past. Feel free to contact us to determine if your business is a network operator or site host.
Basically, if you have EV chargers, you must determine if you are a network operator or a site host for a specific site.
If you are a site host, you can keep the revenue.
If you are a network operator, you must spend the revenue from the sale of Clean Fuel credits within two years (730 days) of the credit sale. You must spend it by expanding your electric vehicle charging infrastructure; or by providing financial incentives to purchase or operate an electric vehicle.
What is 100,000 kWh energy supplied?
It is difficult to quantify what 100,000 kWh is equivalent to. We have listed a few real-world examples.
Here are some assumptions:
- Vehicles charge 50% of their battery capacity per charge. If your customer owns a Tesla Model 3 with an 80kWh battery, then you will supply 40kWh to charge their battery from 30% to 80% full. If they own a Hyundai Ioniq5 with a 72kWh battery, then supplying 40kWh is charging from 24% to 80% full.
- Most people will not allow below 20% or higher than 80% full since its not great for the battery.
- For heavy duty vehicles, it’s assumed that there are two days of maintenance downtime per week or an equivalent over its lifetime of 10 years. That means it’s operational 71% of its lifetime.
| Business type | EV charge site owner for commercial or fleets vehicles | Public EV charge site network operator for passenger cars or Multi-dwelling charge site for private vehicles |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle type | Commercial vehicles (heavy duty) | Passenger cars (light-duty) |
| Vehicle example | Lion Electric Lion6 or Lion8 | Tesla Model3 Long-Range or Hyundai Ioniq5 |
| Battery size example | 250 kWh | 80 kWh (Model3 LR) or 72 kWh (Ioniq5) |
| Energy supplied per charge (from 30% to 80% full battery) | 125 kWh | 40 kWh |
| 100,000 kWh supplied is equivalent to | Three(3) heavy-duty trucks charged per weekday 15 charges per week 65 charges per month 780 charges per year | Seven(7) cars charged per day 49 charges per week 208.3 charges per month 2500 charges per year |
