Public and private charging are not governed by the same texts. AFIR drives public networks, the building directive (EPBD) drives parking at workplaces and homes, and the renewable energy directive (RED III) touches private smart charging. Before comparing returns, an operator should know which obligations attach to which site.
Public sites: AFIR sets the baseline
The AFIR has applied since 13 April 2024. Its corridor targets bind Member States, but several rules bind operators of public points directly:
These are costs of operating a public point, whatever its utilisation. AFIR sets no availability percentage, so uptime commitments come from your contracts and funders.
Private and semi-private sites: buildings and renewables
For parking attached to buildings, the EPBD recast sets the framework. New or heavily renovated non-residential buildings with more than five parking spaces need at least one charging point per five spaces, plus pre-cabling for at least half of the spaces. Existing non-residential buildings with more than 20 spaces need one point per ten spaces, or ducting for at least half of the spaces, by 1 January 2027. Offices fall under a stricter ratio of one point per two spaces. Member States had until 29 May 2026 to transpose it, and the situation country by country is not covered here.
The renewable energy directive adds a smart-charging requirement for new or replaced non-public normal-power points, and requires national frameworks to let electric vehicles take part in flexibility markets. It does not make vehicle-to-grid mandatory and does not create a revenue stream by itself.
Where the investment logic differs
Public sites carry a compliance floor: payment equipment, price display, data publication. The business case rests on sessions you capture. Private fleet and workplace sites carry few of these obligations. Their case rests on avoided cost: managing the connection power, shifting charging in time and keeping vehicles available. Where a supplier offers a dynamic price contract, which the electricity directive lets customers with a smart meter request from larger suppliers, scheduling is how you benefit from it.
In both cases, smart charging is the common tool. AFIR requires capability on public points built after 13 April 2024, and RED III on non-public points. Buying capable hardware once serves both.
Interoperability decides what you can change later
AFIR does not name OCPP, but remote control in practice runs on it. The building directive asks only for non-proprietary and non-discriminatory protocols (article 14(6)). OCPP 1.6 and 2.0.1 are not compatible with each other, while OCPP 2.1 is an extension of 2.0.1, so logic written for 2.0.1 keeps working. Two procurement points follow:
1. Ask suppliers which OCPP versions the product has been tested with, and whether the 2.0.1 and 2.1 features you need are supported.
2. For ISO 15118, the delegated regulation 2025/656 requires ISO 15118-20 for public points, and for private points in mode 3 or 4, installed or renovated from 1 January 2027. If you buy hardware now for installation after that date, it should support it.
What to do this week
Classify each site as public, semi-private or private, and list the obligations that apply to each. Then add the OCPP version and ISO 15118 support to your hardware specification. GFO Omni is a CSMS supporting OCPP 1.6, 2.0.1 and 2.1 that supervises charging points on public and private sites.