EU Commission gives green light for Deutschlandnetz tender on motorways

The European Commission has approved a €350 million German funding scheme under EU state aid rules to support the expansion of fast charging infrastructure along Germany’s motorways. The scheme provides for the installation of 952 HPC charging points at around 200 motorway locations. These are part of the “Deutschlandnetz” (“Germany Network”). With the #Deutschlandnetz, the federal government is ensuring a nationwide, demand-based and user-friendly fast charging network throughout Germany – not only on the national motorways but also in urban, suburban and rural areas.

Kurt-Christoph von Knobelsdorff, CEO and Spokesperson az NOW GmbH: “The ‘Deutschlandnetz’ densifies the charging map in a targeted manner and closes ‘blank spots’ in rural areas just as much as on the motorways. In this way, it is ensured that the next HPC fast charging point can be reached in just a few minutes anywhere in Germany. This security is needed to ensure that electric mobility can ramp up at the necessary speed. An important example of active transport and industrial policy that can also be a model for other countries.”

Johannes Pallasch, Managament Team Spokesperson of the National Centre for Charging Infrastructure: “With the Deutschlandnetz sites, which complement the charging facilities already in place and those to come along the motorways, people can rely on finding an HPC fast-charging station close by whenever they drive along the motorway. This not only creates security for the new users of electric mobility in the mass market. A denser network allows charging stops to be timed even more appropriately, thus further reducing charging times.”

The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV – Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr) and Autobahn GmbH are responsible for the two partial tenders for the regional lots and the motorway lots of the Deutschlandnetz, respectively. The 23 regional lots comprise 900 search areas in rural, suburban and urban areas. The six motorway lots include 200 sites at unmanaged rest areas. More than 100 bids have already been submitted for the regional lots. The evaluation of the bids is expected to produce a result in late summer.

The latest publicly available information on the Deutschlandnetz can always be found at: www.deutschlandnetz.de or https://nationale-leitstelle.de/en/foerdern/deutschlandnetz/