As the demand for sustainable transportation continues to rise, the Virta CO₂ Cashback offers a valuable opportunity for you as Charge Point Operators (CPOs) to directly benefit from the environmental impact of your EV charging operations. This feature allows you to earn for the reduction in CO₂ emissions achieved through electric vehicle (EV) charging, a strong incentive that aligns financial gain with sustainability goals.
By configuring CO₂ Cashback correctly on Virta Hub, you can maximise your revenue potential, ensure regulatory compliance, and reinforce your commitment to environmental responsibility, all while maintaining full ownership and control of your EV charging infrastructure.
In this step-by-step guide, we will cover:
- Prerequisites to Set Up CO2 Cashback on Virta Hub
- How to Set Up CO₂ Cashback on Virta Hub
- How to View and Access the Payout Amount for Your Organisation
- How to Disable CO₂ Cashback for Your Organisation
1. Prerequisites
Before we begin, please note that this service is currently available on Virta Hub in France, Finland, Sweden, and Germany. Support for other countries will follow based on local legislation.
If you are interested in the Virta CO₂ Cashback service, please reach out to our Sales team to receive a quote and the contract.
Review and sign the contract.
Once signed, you can proceed with setting up CO₂ Cashback on Virta Hub.
To set up CO₂ Cashback, please ensure:
- You are the owner of the charging stations in the organisation. Sub-operators and resellers are not eligible to enable this service.
- Your charging stations are operational and compliant with the Carbon Credit Mechanism available in your country. Please find more details of the regulations for France here.
- Your stations’ access also needs to be configured and aligned with the Carbon Credit Program.
- You have the required access and role permission, such as Administrator or Charging Manager.
- Your organisation’s billing and settlements information needs to be up to date.
2. How to Set Up CO₂ Cashback on Virta Hub
To set up CO2 Cashback on Virta Hub, you will log in to Virta Hub and navigate to the Organisation tab, and click CO2 Cashback.
You will be presented with a submission overview. This section displays the number of your charge points eligible for the program, only those charging points that your organisation owns.
Click the Download Template button. In this template, you can see a list of your charging points and the required fields for submission.
Please fill in all required fields in the template, as specified by your country’s compliance rules. Save the completed file and return to the submission page. Use the Import section to upload your finalised file. Once the upload is complete, you will see the summary and any issues in the file.
If there is any error, you can correct the file and upload it again or you can submit the file disregarding the issues. Please carefully review the details in the summary to ensure accuracy. Click Complete Submission to proceed.
After submission, you will see the status has been updated as Submitted. The processing time varies depending on country specific requirements and you might need to pass an audit from the corresponding Carbon Credit Organisation.
Once reviewed and approved, your submission will be confirmed, the status will be updated to Active, and you can begin collecting cashback payouts. If you want, you can submit additional charging points.
At any time, you can return to the CO₂ Cashback page to view the status of your submission and track your payout history and earnings.
Set Up Hierarchy Rules
If your organisation has complex sub-entities:
- Navigate to the intended Organisation → CO2 Cashback
- Ensure all eligible chargers are mapped correctly to their parent owner entity
- The parent organisation can enable the CO₂ Cashback for its sub-organisations; however, application submissions and corresponding payouts will apply only to the respective sub-organisation. While the parent organisation can activate the service for all of its sub-CPOs, explicit permission is required to do so.
3. How to Track the Payout Amount for Your Organisation
To track the status of your cashback earnings, navigate to Organisation → CO₂ Cashback
In the Cashback Payout section, you will find a detailed overview of:
- Cashback payout tile including the cumulative total earned amount as of today, including the price per kWh, and the kWh volume from all the approved charging points.
- Upcoming payouts tile including the payout period, including the price per kWh, and the kWh volume from all the approved charging points.
This section provides full visibility into your environmental impact and financial returns.
4. How to Disable CO₂ Cashback for Your Organisation
The CO2 Cashback service contract will renew automatically, unless you decide to opt out. If you wish to opt out of the CO₂ Cashback service, please consult with your Customer Success Manager or our Support team to deactivate the service for your organisation. Please note that the opt-out request needs to be made before the contract renewal time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Can I include chargers that I manage but do not own in the cashback program?
No. Only chargers that are directly owned by your organistion are eligible. Managed or sub-leased assets are excluded.
2. What data is shared with government authorities?
The data shared may include aggregated charging information from the charging stations, charging point IDs, locations, and other identifying details. Where necessary, this data may also be provided to authorised third parties, such as carbon credit buyers or auditors. All data sharing is strictly carried out in compliance with local legislation and GDPR requirements.
3. Can I enable or disable cashback at the individual charger level?
No. Once your submission is complete, changes cannot be made directly in the system. If you would like to exclude specific charging points from the CO₂ Cashback service, please contact us. Our CO₂ Cashback experts will assist you with the removal.
4. How frequently will payouts be processed?
Payouts are processed once per year in each country.
That’s it!
By setting up Virta CO₂ Cashback on the Virta Hub, you can unlock a high-value revenue stream that directly rewards your contributions to a greener future. You now know:
- The eligibility requirements
- How to set up CO2 Cashback on the Virta Hub
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How to track and view your payout amount
If you have any questions or need assistance, our Support Team and CO₂ Cashback experts will be happy to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.