Image: Antti Haanpää / Yle

Finland wants to boost electric vehicle usage with an extra 5,500 charging points at apartment blocks and detached home complexes as part of the government's drive to make the country carbon neutral by 2035.

The government agency in charge has already paid for 3,000 charging points over the last two years, but this year funding for EV infrastructure will jump by four million euros from the 1.5 million euros allocated in 2019.

"We have 5.5 million euros at our disposal," said Kari Lappalainen of the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA).

The money can be claimed by housing companies, through which individuals own apartments and some other types of homes, but not by private individuals. Parking firms owned by housing companies can also apply for the aid.

Rising demand for EV charging points

ARA estimated that during the past two years, the funding programme bankrolled the installation of about 3,000 charging points.

According to Lappalainen, while ARA found that it initially needed to market the subsidy, demand for the financial assistance rose significantly at the end of 2019.

"We now have a small queue of applicants," he expanded.

He estimated that the 2020 funding allocation would finance the installation of more than 5,000 charging stations.

The subsidy is normally 35 percent of the cost of installing EV chargers. However it could grow if half of the units are at least 11 Kilowatt chargers. In such cases, ARA will fund 50 percent of the project.