Fastned wins contract for two charging parks in Flanders

Fastned has been awarded the contract to install two charging parks on the E17 motorway near the Flemish town of Gentbrugge. The company also reports that it has opened the largest drive-through location in the company’s network in France.

In Belgium, Fastned has been awarded a concession for two busy sites as part of a tender by the Flemish road authority Agentschap Wegen en Verkeer (AWV). Specifically, the Dutch charging infrastructure specialist will develop and operate two fast charging parks with twelve charging points each on both sides of the E17 motorway near the city of Ghent. According to the company, the two sites will be the first “motorway service stations of the future” that exclusively serve electric cars and offer additional services such as toilets, sandwiches and coffee.

Construction of the two sites is scheduled to begin in 2024. They are to have “400kW chargers, providing energy only from sun and wind”, according to Fastned. Fastned will purchase the corresponding columns from EVBox. At the end of 2022, such a High Power Charger of the type EVBox Troniq Modular High-Power with up to 400 kW was put into test operation at the Dutch Fastned station De Watering on the A8 near Oostzaan.

For the Flemish stations, Fastned further specifies that their charger set-up is suitable for all electric vehicles, including longer caravans and trucks. As usual, they will have the distinctive yellow Fastned canopies with photovoltaic panels. In Belgium, Fastned says it currently has 19 fast-charging stations in operation, with 24 sites under development.

“This newly won tender shows the confidence the Flemish road authority has in our fast charging concept and is a tribute to the expertise we have developed over the past decade in the European market. We are proud that we are given the opportunity to also provide coffee and facilities to our customers at these locations,” says Tuur De Coninck, Country Manager Belgium at Fastned.

For Fastned CEO Michiel Langezaal, this was “one of the most important tenders in Europe this year”. The award shows that Fastned is always able to win important locations to further expand its network.

Meanwhile, in France, Fastned has opened the largest drive-through location in the company’s network. This is located near Metz on the A31, about 30 minutes from Bettembourg (Luxembourg) and 55 kilometres from Saarlouis (Germany). The La Maxe site includes 16 charging points, each delivering up to 300 kW.

By the end of 2022, the average number of charging points per station in the Fastned network had increased to 5.1. According to the company, the retrofitting of almost 50 stations contributed to this. In principle, Fastned is pursuing the goal of building 1,000 stations by 2030.

fastnedcharging.com (Belgium), fastnedcharging.com (France)