Fastned opens Belgium’s first HPC park

Fastned opened its first charging location in Belgium on Tuesday. This means that the Dutch fast-charging company is now active in four countries: the Netherlands, Germany, England and Belgium. Fastned has also started to issue a new series of bonds.

The first Fastned fast charging site on Belgian soil is located in Ostend, near the international airport Ostend-Bruges. According to Fastned boss Michiel Langezaal, this is a location with a lot of traffic. Four electric vehicles can be fast-charged there at the same time. As usual at Fastned, the high power chargers on site are designed for up to 350 kW charging power.

“In the coming years, we will implement many more Belgian stations in cities and along the freeways,” adds the company CEO. For the Flemish region alone, the charging infrastructure specialist has received permits for the construction of 13 rapid charging stations along freeways. In this region of Belgium, the rest stops along the freeways fall under the responsibility of the Agentschap Wegen & Verkeer (AWV), the Flemish Road Authority. According to the company, the permit granted by the AWV for the 13 sites is valid for 15 years.

Fastned’s goal is to create a European network of 1,000 fast-charging stations. The company currently has 128 stations in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. In order to finance further expansion, Fastned has, by the way, started to subscribe to a new series of bonds. The bonds cost 1,000 euros per bond. Investors can currently subscribe to the papers, which have a term of five years and an interest rate of six per cent per year.

fastnedcharging.com, fastnedcharging.com (bonds)