ICPE 2925: Battery and Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Heading 2925 of the nomenclature of classified installations concerns workshops for charging electric batteries. Find out how the installations and equipment for which electric batteries are charged are regulated. We invite you to read the whole article to better understand these new regulations!

Fabien Gélisse
EHS Consultant
Update : 
22.06.2026
Publication: 
17.02.2025

🔎 Things to remember

  • Strict regulations governing batteries: ICPE category No. 2925 strictly regulates the charging capacity of commercial electrical installations (forklifts, inverters, charging stations), distinguishing between workshops that emit hydrogen (lead-acid, threshold of 50 kW) and those that do not (lithium-ion, threshold of 600 kW).
  • The Crucial Public Domain Exception: In light of the rise of electric vehicles, regulations completely exempt publicly accessible charging infrastructure from classification, but subject private charging stations installed on company premises to legal requirements when they are intended for employees or internal fleets.
  • A Comprehensive Power Calculation: A recent ministerial memo clarifies the rules by specifying that the term “workshops” applies to both indoor and outdoor facilities, and requires that the power of all equipment at a single site be aggregated to determine whether reporting thresholds have been exceeded.
  • Regulatory Changes on the Horizon: While these activities are currently governed by general regulatory decrees dating from 2000 and 2018, a draft of a new ministerial decree is being prepared to specifically address the risks associated with outdoor lithium technologies.
  • Heading 2925 of the nomenclature of classified installations concerns workshops for charging electric accumulators.

    This heading covers installations where electric batteries are charged. Equipment that could potentially be classified under this heading may be :

    • Battery energy storage systems (BESS)
    • Electrical inverters
    • Loaders for handling equipment (forklift trucks, aerial work platforms, etc.)
    • Charging stations for electric vehicles

    In light of recent requirements regarding the installation of electric vehicle charging stations, we would like to provide details here on the classification criteria under this ICPE category.

    The title of ICPE category No. 2925

    Heading no. 2925 was last amended by Decree no. 2019-1096 of October 28, 2019. It is now divided into two headings.

    Heading no. 2925-1 concerns workshops for charging electric accumulators when the charge produces hydrogen.

    This applies in particular to lead-acid batteries.

    Title Classification system
    2925-1 :
    When the load produces hydrogen, the maximum DC power usable for this operation being greater than 50 kW
    Declaration

    Heading no. 2925-2 concerns workshops for charging electric accumulators when the charge does not produce hydrogen.

    These include lithium-ion batteries. Electric vehicle charging stations therefore fall within the scope of this sub-heading n° 2925-2.

    Title Classification system
    2925-2 :
    When charging does not produce hydrogen, the maximum current power usable for this operation being greater than 600 kW, with the exception of recharging infrastructures for electric vehicles open to the public as defined by the French Ministry of the Environment. decree no. 2017-26 of January 12, 2017 relating to charging infrastructures for electric vehicles and carrying various measures transposing Directive 2014/94/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 22, 2014 on the deployment of an infrastructure for alternative fuels.
    Declaration

    Note: as indicated in the heading of item no. 2925-2, recharging infrastructures open to the public are exempt from classification.

    This is a recharging infrastructure or recharging station or recharging point located on public or private land, to which users have non-discriminatory access. Non-discriminatory access does not preclude the imposition of certain conditions in terms of authentication, use and payment.

    Details on the classification criteria under ICPE category No. 2925

    A note from the Ministry dated December 20, 2024, published on the INERIS AÏDA website, clarifies the classification procedures under this heading with regard to :

    • The concept of load shops ;
    • The classification of installations spread over a site;
    • Classification of charging points for light electric vehicles in outdoor parking areas not open to the public.

    1. The Concept of Charge Workshops

    This note reviews the concept of "load workshops". The notion of "workshop" is to be understood in the broadest sense of the term: it refers to the place where the activity is carried out, whether the place is a covered space or not.

    The charging of batteries therefore comes under heading 2925 in the various configurations: in buildings and on open-air parking areas.

    Electric vehicle charging stations for light vehicles, installed in parking areas not open to the public, both inside and outside buildings, are likely to be classified under heading 2925-2.

    2. Calculating the load capacity for a single site

    This note explains how power is calculated at site level: all equipment, whatever its type or use (ESS, IRVE terminals, charging rooms, carts, vehicles, etc.) falling under heading 2925 operated by the same operator on a site must be added together to check whether power exceeds the classification threshold.

    For a single operator, this means combining the following for a single site:

    • On the one hand, the power of all installations that may emit hydrogen during charging, and to compare with the threshold of heading no. 2925-1.
    • On the one hand, the power of all the installations that cannot emit hydrogen during charging, and to compare with the threshold of heading no. 2925-2/ on the other hand, the power of all the installations that cannot emit hydrogen during charging, and to compare with the threshold of heading no. 2925-2/ on the other hand.

    The same site can therefore be classified under both subheadings.

    3. The classification of charging stations for light electric vehicles in outdoor parking areas that are not open to the public

    This note sets out the definition of a recharging station open to the public, as referred to in the wording of this ICPE heading.

    Charging stations for both light and heavy-duty vehicles, located on company premises, are not considered to be charging points open to the public. They are therefore not excluded, and are likely to be concerned by this classification if the maximum current power usable for this operation exceeds the 600 kW threshold.

    The technical requirements that must be met to operate this business

    Several ministerial decrees on general requirements may apply to a site classified under heading no. 2925:

    • Arrêté du 29 mai 2000 relatif aux prescriptions générales applicables aux installations classées pour la protection de l'environnement soumises à déclaration sous la rubrique n° 2925 accumulateurs (ateliers de charge d') :
      This decree currently applies to all workshops classified under heading no. 2925 (whether for heading no. 2925-1 or 2925-2), with the exception of workshops specifically covered by the second text cited below.
    • Arrêté du 3 août 2018 relatif aux prescriptions générales applicables aux ateliers de charge contenant au moins 10 véhicules de transport en commun de catégorie M2 ou M3 fonctionnant grâce à l'énergie électrique et soumis à déclaration sous la rubrique n° 2925 de la nomenclature des installations classées pour la protection de l'environnement :

    Today, these workshops are generally covered by heading no. 2925-2 (vehicle batteries are generally batteries that do not emit hydrogen during charging).

    In addition, the publication of a new regulations order applying specifically to workshops classified under heading no. 2925-2 located outdoors and using lithium technologies is currently in the planning stage. This new order will apply in particular to charging infrastructures and stations for electric vehicles not open to the public, with a combined power rating of over 600 kW.

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