Want Fast EV Charging, but the Grid Doesn’t Have the Capacity?

We are Hybrid Energy: we sell diesel generators, grid-tied and hybrid
inverters, industrial battery storage, and wind turbines. We don’t sell
hydrogen charging equipment today, neither the units nor the hydrogen itself.
That’s exactly why we can tell you honestly when it actually makes sense and
when it doesn’t: we make nothing from that sale today. This article won’t tell
you which option to buy. It shows why fast charging usually runs into permitted
capacity rather than the charger’s price, and what you can actually do about
it.

The short version

• One 90 kW fast-charging point on a site means 90 kW of additional
  permitted capacity. ESO charges €3.00/kW per month
  excluding VAT for it, which is €270 a month just for
  the right to use that capacity, whether you charge every day or once a
  week.
• Exceed the permitted capacity, and ESO applies triple the capacity
  charge, €9.00/kW per month for the excess. That’s what fast
  charging infrastructure runs into, not the charger’s price.
• There are three routes: raise the permitted capacity (a separate paid ESO
  service, with the rate negotiated directly with them), install battery
  storage that shaves the peak (our catalog includes industrial Solis EverCore
  systems), or use a hydrogen charging unit that doesn’t connect to the grid at
  all.
• The hydrogen unit is the only option that needs no grid capacity at all.
  But one 90 kW unit, running non-stop for a full day, would use about
  132 kg of hydrogen a day, while all of Lithuania’s hydrogen
  production at Klaipėda is around 127 tonnes a year, about
  348 kg a day, a quarter of which goes to the port itself. So one such unit
  would use up about half of everything left for the market.
• Hydrogen fast charging makes sense today where grid capacity simply can’t
  be increased, or where that would take too long, not as a mass-market solution
  for every charging point.

What you’re choosing between

All three routes solve the same problem: the site needs more power than it’s
currently allowed to draw from the grid, just through different means and at
different prices.

Raising permitted capacity. ESO offers a separate, paid
capacity-upgrade service. It isn’t a one-off fee: from the day of the upgrade,
the capacity charge is billed against the new, higher limit continuously, all
year round, no matter how many times a month you actually charge. The exact
rate for this service has to be negotiated directly with ESO; there’s no
published figure.

Battery storage that shaves the peak. The charging point
draws its full power not straight from the grid, but from industrial battery
storage that has already charged slowly from the site’s existing permitted
capacity. The storage connects to the charger through a grid-tied inverter; the
site’s permitted capacity stays the same, only where the flow comes from at any
given minute changes.

The Kvyreen CG hydrogen charging unit. Made by the Swiss
manufacturer H2 Energy, this unit generates DC power from hydrogen and
delivers it straight to the EV through a CCS Type 2 connector at up to 800 V,
in a 90 kW or 180 kW version. The manufacturer’s brochure states it plainly:

„Initial release of product capable of off-grid operation only.“

H2 Energy, Kvyreen Charger Brochure

Of the three options, this is the only one where the site’s permitted
capacity doesn’t matter at all: it operates fully disconnected from the
electricity grid. The manufacturer itself warns that specifications may still
change:

„Specifications are work in progress and can be subject to change.“

H2 Energy, Kvyreen Charger Brochure

The pivot this whole choice turns on: not how much the
charging point itself costs, but how much additional permitted capacity the
site can afford each month, or whether it needs grid capacity at all.

Comparison at a glance

When the right answer is a capacity upgrade

The obvious case: a site that charges several vehicles at once, continuously,
all day, a logistics hub, a taxi fleet, a bus depot. There’s simply no peak to
shave here, since the load is already almost constant.

A less obvious case: a site that already has another large load
(refrigeration, production), and adding charging on top pushes the total power
needed past the existing limit on its own, whether you’re charging one vehicle
or five.

The mechanism is simple: this is the only route that actually raises the
site’s upper ceiling, rather than just redistributing the same capacity across
the day. Storage or hydrogen handle peaks, but neither increases the site’s
overall capacity.

What that costs. The higher fee is billed every month, all
year round, even if the new capacity is actually used for only a few hours a
day. It’s the opposite of storage: here you pay for the capacity you hold, not
the power you actually used.

When the right answer is battery storage

The obvious case: several charging sessions a day, with hours of gap between
them, long enough for the storage to recharge from the site’s existing
permitted capacity.

A less obvious case: a site wants to install a fast charger, but its ESO-
approved permitted capacity is already nearly used up by other needs, and
raising it would mean a new, permanent monthly charge just for a peak that
lasts a few hours a day.

The mechanism is the same limit ESO states:

„Atkreipiame dėmesį, kad viršijus objekto leistiną naudoti galią, vartotojas
privalo sumokėti trigubą vartotojo objektui taikomo tarifo plano galios
dedamosios kainą.“ (in English: Please note that if a customer exceeds the
site’s permitted capacity, they must pay triple the capacity-charge rate under
their tariff plan.)

ESO — Electricity Transmission Service Prices for Business Customers

Storage shaves exactly the short peak that would otherwise trigger the triple
rate or force a capacity upgrade. Our catalog includes industrial Solis
EverCore systems: for example, a 100 kWh storage unit costs €22,299 including
VAT, a 120 kWh version costs €24,199 including VAT, and the largest, 261 kWh,
costs €42,999 including VAT. The capacity you need depends on how many times a
day you charge and how much time the storage has to recover between sessions.

What that costs. Storage doesn’t expand the site’s overall
capacity; it only redistributes the same capacity across the day. If charging
sessions repeat too often for the storage to recharge in between, it stops
holding the peak, and part of the load still falls back on the grid at the old
limit.

When the right answer is the hydrogen unit

The obvious case: a site so far from the grid that building a new line or a
transformer substation would cost and take disproportionately more than the
site actually needs.

A less obvious case: a remote or temporary site, a construction site, a
temporary logistics base, an event venue, where connecting to the grid doesn’t
pay off because the site will only be there for a limited time.

The mechanism: the Kvyreen CG generates electricity from hydrogen on site,
so it needs no permitted capacity, no contract with ESO, and no transformer
substation. Its only resource is hydrogen cylinders or a tank on site.

What that costs, and where the limit is. There isn’t much
hydrogen in Lithuania yet: the first green-hydrogen production and refueling
station at the Port of Klaipėda produces around 127 tonnes a year, about
348 kg a day, and roughly a quarter of that is used by the port itself. One
90 kW unit, running all day, uses about 132 kg of hydrogen a day, meaning it
alone would use up about half of everything left for the market. For the
180 kW version, there simply wouldn’t be enough hydrogen in the country. This
isn’t a mass-market solution for every charging point; it’s a solution for one
specific site where no other option exists, or where the alternatives would
take too long.

What the site decides for you

Some choices fall away before you even get to compare prices.

Permitted capacity sets a ceiling on the grid, not on your
need. If the site is allowed 60 kW and the charger needs 90 kW, the
missing 30 kW has to be covered by storage or by a hydrogen unit, or you have
to raise the permitted capacity and pay more every month from that day on,
regardless of which option you choose.

How dense the charging schedule is rules out storage or a capacity
upgrade. If there are only two or three short sessions a day with long
gaps in between, storage has time to recover. If sessions run back to back with
no gaps, storage can’t hold the peak, and you’re left either raising capacity
or installing a hydrogen unit.

The distance and volume of hydrogen supply determine whether the
hydrogen option is realistic at all. Commercial hydrogen supply from
Klaipėda only starts in autumn 2026; it’s a new, limited-scale source. For a
site far from the port and its logistics routes, the hydrogen supply chain
could turn out to be the most expensive part, even before the unit itself.

What changes in day-to-day operation

A capacity upgrade changes nothing in daily routine, it’s a one-off
arrangement with ESO, after which the site simply has a higher limit. Storage
needs you to decide in advance what charging schedule it has to withstand, and
to check its condition periodically. The hydrogen unit needs a regular hydrogen
delivery to the site, a logistics chain that in Lithuania is still only
taking shape.

What doesn’t change: none of the three options changes the
EV charging standard or connector type the vehicles themselves require. What
changes is only where the power reaching the charger comes from.

Do you really have to choose just one?

Usually yes, but two combinations do come up.

Capacity upgrade combined with storage. The site raises
permitted capacity to cover its real average load, and leaves storage to shave
the rare, short peaks above that new limit, so it needs less new capacity than
if the upgrade alone had to cover everything.

A hydrogen unit as a temporary measure while a line is being
built. For sites where a grid connection is already planned but will
take time, a hydrogen unit can work through the transition period and later be
moved to another off-grid location.

Frequently asked questions

Why isn’t it enough to just buy a more powerful charger for fast
charging?

Because the charger’s output is only a question of equipment; the limit on
how much power the site can actually draw from the grid at all is set by the
ESO-approved permitted capacity. A more powerful charger without enough
permitted capacity simply won’t be able to run at full power, or it will cause
you to exceed capacity and trigger the triple charge.

How much does it cost to raise permitted capacity?

We can’t give a specific rate, since ESO sets it individually for each site.
What is clear is that it’s a separate paid service, and after the upgrade the
capacity charge is billed every month against the new, higher limit,
regardless of how much power you actually use.

Does storage at a charging point fully eliminate the need to raise
capacity?

Not always. Storage helps when there’s enough time between charging
sessions for it to recharge from the site’s existing permitted capacity. If
sessions repeat too often, or run back to back for too long, the storage’s
capacity runs out, and part of the load still falls on the grid at the old
limit.

Can I buy a hydrogen charging unit from you today?

No. We don’t sell hydrogen charging equipment today, neither the units nor
the hydrogen supply. We can explain how it works and calculate together
whether such a solution would make sense for a specific site once the
technology and supply chain in Lithuania mature.

How much hydrogen is actually available in Lithuania to power such a
unit?

The Port of Klaipėda’s station produces around 127 tonnes of green hydrogen
a year, about 348 kg a day, and roughly a quarter of that is used by the port
itself. Commercial supply to other customers starts in autumn 2026. One 90 kW
unit, running all day, would use up about half of everything left for the
market, which also limits how many such units the country can supply today.

What we suggest you do

Send us three things: the site’s current permitted capacity (it’s stated in
your ESO contract), the planned charging point’s output, and a rough charging
schedule, how many sessions a day and at what intervals. That’s enough for us
to tell you whether it’s worth raising capacity, installing storage, or
whether your site belongs to that rare group for which a hydrogen solution
makes sense today.

Sources

• ESO, Electricity Transmission Service Prices for Business Customers:
  capacity charge, triple rate for exceeding capacity:
  eso.lt
  (reviewed 2026-09-18)
• H2 Energy, Kvyreen Genset & Charger brochures: charging power, CCS
  Type 2 connector, hydrogen consumption, manufacturer caveats:
  240729-Kvyreen-Genset-Brochure-EN, 240729-Kvyreen-charger-brochure-EN,
  241203-Kvyreen-Genset-Charger-Brochure-EN (reviewed 2026-09-22)
• Hydrogen Tech World, report on the Klaipėda hydrogen station: production
  volume, the port’s share, start of commercial supply:
  hydrogentechworld.com (reviewed 2026-06-08)
• Hybrid Energy, Solis EverCore battery storage catalog: capacities and
  prices: hybridenergy.lt
  (reviewed 2026-09-18)