Tender concept for 1,000 new fast-charging hubs in place
The Transport Committee of the German Bundestag today approved the tender concept presented by Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer for 1,000 new fast-charging locations. This means the call for tenders can commence in the summer of 2021. As soon as the Fast Charging Act (“Schnellladegesetz”) has come into force as the legal basis, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure will publish the tender documents in the official EU journal.
Federal Minister Andreas Scheuer: “The charging turbo has kicked in! We are building 1,000 fast-charging hubs nationwide by 2023. In the future, it should be possible to reach the next fast-charging point within ten minutes – in the city, on rural roads and on the motorway. We are taking a decisive step towards this goal with the tender for the German network. Our concept for this is in place. By putting the locations out to tender, we are relying on free-market competition and the best offer for the citizens. Our goal is clear: easy charging, always and everywhere, fast, convenient and climate-neutral.”
In close cooperation with the BMVI, the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure under the umbrella of NOW GmbH has been coordinating and managing the activities to expand the charging infrastructure in Germany since 2020.
Johannes Pallasch, Management Spokesperson of the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure: “With the development of the German network, we are eliminating existing blank spots on the map of charging infrastructure. In doing so, we are primarily focusing on charging parks with several high-power charging points for longer journeys. With the StandortTOOL location tool, the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure has the necessary tool, together with traffic planning methods, to identify locations and search areas for fast-charging parks. At the same time, we have presented the blueprint for an attractive charging experience for drivers of electric cars with our ‘Simply Charging’ thesis paper. All of this has been incorporated into the concept for the German network. We are delighted that the tender can start soon.”
Information on the tender concept:
- In order to provide a basic fast-charging infrastructure for medium and long-distance journeys, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure will invite tenders for the construction and operation of approximately 1,000 fast-charging locations, each with several charging points, i.e., a total of several thousand new fast-charging points – the so-called “Deutschlandnetz” (“Germany Network”). Each charging point must provide at least 150 kW of power at all times. Around 2 billion euros have been earmarked for this.
⠀⠀ - The 1,000 sites will be bundled into lots for the tendering process and will also include sites that are less economically attractive but necessary for nationwide coverage. Evaluation criteria are costs, concept and customer friendliness.
⠀ - The invitation to tender is divided into two sub-tenders:
(1.) Motorway lots: Approx. 150-200 sites on the federal motorways, which will be divided into four to five lots. (2.) Regional lots: Bundling of approx. 900 search areas in at least 18 lots. These search areas specify a certain area, e.g., around a traffic junction. The bidders must submit or find suitable sites within these search areas.
⠀⠀ - The different types of lots are intended to take different groups of bidders into account: Regional lots for more regionally active operators, including one small lot per region for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); Germany-wide lots for enterprises that are active throughout Germany and Europe.
⠀⠀ - The installation and guaranteed operation of the charging points are contractually binding for the bidders – unlike in previous and existing funding programmes. The German government also defines supply and quality standards at the locations of the fast-charging network and ensures compliance with them.
⠀⠀ - When determining demand via the StandortTOOL location tool, the existing stock of HPC (high-power charging) charging infrastructure is taken into account in order to avoid competitive situations.
⠀⠀ - By defining a pricing model, steps are being taken to ensure that there are no detrimental repercussions on the market developing in parallel.
The tender concept can be found here (in German): “Concept for the tender for 1000 fast charging locations” (“Konzept Ausschreibung 1000 Schnellladestandorte”) (PDF)