EnBW joint venture plans fast-charging network in Turkey

Borusan EnBW Enerji, a joint venture between EnBW and the Turkish industrial group Borusan, wants to install a network of fast chargers for electric cars in Turkey. They have already received their operating license and plan to invest over five billion Turkish liras (€250 mn) by 2030.

EnBW founded Borusan EnBW Enerji in 2009 in Istanbul and focused on wind energy. The new plan, however, sees the company aiming to install 500 charge points and later increase this number to 7,000. Whether this means charge points, charging stations, or even sites remains unclear.

At the same time, the Turkish regulatory authority EMRA has granted Borusan EnBW Enerji the license to run the network.

The company adds that it expects to benefit from the knowledge and experience of its principal shareholder EnBW AG. The German energy company based in Baden-Württemberg, also home to Porsche or Mercedes, is among the leading CPOs in its home country. The mega charge park at Kamener Kreuz is a prime example. What is more, the EnBW HyperNetz operates over 200,000 charging points in nine European countries. Borusan EnBW Enerji aims to also reach the top in the Turkish market and banks on service quality.

As for technology, the company only announced the charge points would provide a 30% charge rate in less than 80 minutes, pointing to charging powers of up to 150 kW and not 350 kW as is becoming the new ultra-rapid norm.

The energy will likely come from renewables, at least partially. The joint venture’s primary objective has been to build up Turkey’s renewable energy field. As of mid-2022, the company had around 720 megawatts of capacity in the country, including onshore wind plants, a hydroelectric power plant and two solar parks.

Borusan EnBW Enerji General Manager Enis Amasyalı said, “We continue to make a strong contribution to the clean energy transformation in our country with our electricity generation entirely from renewable energy sources”. As for transportation, he considers electric vehicle charging stations as “critical infrastructure” necessary to start “a new clean transformation process” of transport. “As Borusan EnBW Enerji, we are experiencing the great excitement of investing in a new lane where we will adopt a customer experience-oriented service approach with the support of our shareholders’ experience and expertise.”

raillynews.com, sonsaat.com (in Turkish)