Kempower equips 200 Q8 and Storm sites with fast chargers

The renewable energy company Storm and the petrol station brand Q8 want to build an HPC network with up to 200 locations in Belgium over the next five years. Each site will have 10 to 16 Kempower chargers. Forty locations will be put into operation each year, the first four this month.

According to reports, Q8 and Storm’s plans envisage investments totalling 250 million euros. The petrol station brand will operate the fast-charging stations under long-term leases with Storm, responsible for the development and construction.

The covered fast-charging parks will be built across the country “at highly visible and accessible prime locations nationwide” near main traffic routes and city centres. Each location will have between ten and 16 Kempower fast-charging points. According to the Finnish charging infrastructure manufacturer, there will be CCS and CHAdeMO charging points. However, no information is available on the exact distribution.

According to Q8 and Storm, each charging point will provide a charging capacity of up to 400 kW, although this only applies to CCS. The Finnish company uses its Satellite system, where the total charging power of the location is distributed dynamically to the individual charging points. When asked, Kempower said each location is equipped with triple Kempower Power Units, enabling to scale up both power and the number of plugs in the future.

The individual chargers at each location can be used by electric cars, light electric trucks, and electric vans. Each charging point should also be accessible to people with disabilities. Kempower states, “payment can be settled using all current charging cards, with the Q8 electric app, and with any debit or credit card.”

In addition to canopies, the HPC hubs will offer other services: Half of the planned 200 locations will have their own shop offering “a wide range of sandwich and premium coffee options.” According to the two companies, this will be possible thanks to partnerships with companies such as Delhaize and Panos. A quarter of the locations will also feature a fast-food restaurant.

As already mentioned, 200 locations are planned over the next five years. Q8 and Storm plan to build 40 new fast-charging parks per year—one every ten days on average. The first four sites (Beringen, Aalter, Waasmunster, and Kampenhout) are due to go into operation this month.

storm.be, q8.be (in French), kempower.com