IRSN – How a successful migration brings EV charging network up to European standards

Read how Virta’s proactive approach won IRSN’s trust with a migration of their charge points to our charge point management system (CPMS), Virta Hub.

The story

IRSN, The Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety, is a French public institution specialising in research and expertise on nuclear and radiation risks. It operates under the joint supervision of the French ministers of the ecological transition, the Armed Forces, the energy transition, research, and health.

IRSN’s mission is to assess and evaluate the risks associated with ionising radiation—used, for example, in medicine – and natural radiation. IRSN is also responsible for protecting the public and raising awareness about nuclear and radiation risks and conducting research on their future developments and management.

For governmental bodies, the requirements to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are stricter, and they feel the push for a green transition is even stronger than that of private companies. The latest government directive states that from 2027, public organisations in France will have to switch their fleets to 70% of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. For private businesses, the number is lower, only 50%.

The problem

IRSN has had an EV charging infrastructure at its sites for several years. However, the charging network wasn’t up to date – the charging stations were old, some models even up to 6 years old, and most importantly, they didn’t support smart charging. When the charge points were installed, they didn’t come connected to any charge point management system (CPMS).

As the EV charging market and the needs and requirements associated with it are evolving at the speed of light, IRSN understood they needed to find a fitting CPMS to keep track of their charging operations and energy consumption.

Not only because URSSAF, the French social security agency, now requires reporting of all employee benefits, which for IRSN employees, EV charging is. In addition, starting in June 2024, the new European AFIR regulation will require electric charging providers to monitor their energy consumption. Also, IRSN intends to begin charging for the service in the long term. For all of the above, being able to track and manage charging operations with a CPMS was more than needed.

The solution

The French government purchased the charge points directly from the manufacturers, then left their management to public bodies such as IRSN. That is when IRSN contacted Virta to find out whether it was within our area of expertise to take on the project of connecting 21 charge points on three different sites to our back-end system for management and invoicing.

The charge points installed at the IRSN sites come from various manufacturers:

• Schneider / EVlink
• Legrand
• G2 mobilités
• EVBox / Business line G3

All three sites have private car parks reserved for service vehicles. There are also semi-public car parks for maintenance service providers and visitors. There are payment terminals, currently open to all employees, and a handful of RFID badges are distributed to visitors who request them.

The results 

Virta has been able to migrate 80% of IRSN’s existing charge points, which are now connected to Virta Hub. The rest of the chargers could not be migrated because their OCPP was not up to date.

The future

IRSN plans to equip all its sites with smart EV charging. The ambition is to choose a single charge point manufacturer and rely on Virta for all stages of the process – from purchase and installation to remote management of the charge points. The concrete plan for the rest of 2024 is to install an additional 25 charging stations.

“We are really pleased with our experience with Virta as we got on very well with the team. They immediately identified the technical limitations and understood the compatibility between the different charging stations and the RFID badges. Virta doesn’t just sell new chargers; they’re just as good at finding solutions to improve an existing charging infrastructure.”

- Stéphane Wartel, Logistics/Property Coordinator and Mobility Advisor at IRSN

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