Greenspot and Kempower build 30 fast-charging sites in France; five already operating

French charging operator Greenspot and Finnish manufacturer Kempower are building 30 fast-charging sites in France, electrive.net reports. Greenspot relies on a standardised concept that is to be implemented largely identically at all 30 locations. Five sites are already in operation electrive.netelectrive.netelectrive.netOpen source ↗.

Site design and power

Each site uses one 200 kW Kempower power unit that supplies two dual satellites (double charging posts), giving four charge points in total. The available power is distributed dynamically among the connected vehicles.

The systems are intended mainly for supermarkets and other retail sites with mid-sized car parks. According to Kempower, they can be connected through the French commercial tariff "tarif jaune" without building a separate transformer station. This is meant to reduce construction time and investment.

The architecture is modular: a central power unit feeds several charge points and allocates power according to the demand of each vehicle. Additional posts or more power can be added later. According to Kempower, this allows expansion without sizing the infrastructure for the maximum future demand from the start electrive.netelectrive.netelectrive.netOpen source ↗.

Locations and financing model

The five operating sites are at Bricomarché in Montgiscard, Intermarché Super in Lanton, and three Aldi stores in Benesse-Maremne, Izon and Saint-Ciers-sur-Gironde. Further sites are planned at Aldi, Franprix, Intermarché and Cultura, among others.

No capital outlay is planned for the retailers. Greenspot finances, installs and operates the infrastructure under its third-party investment model. The sites remain part of the Greenspot network, while retailers add a charging offer to their car parks.

Greenspot says it now operates more than 1,500 charge points in France and aims to raise that number to 8,500 by 2030. The company was founded in 2016 and focuses on charging infrastructure at retail and corporate sites electrive.netelectrive.netelectrive.netOpen source ↗.

Kempower is also pursuing other financing models intended to lower the entry barrier for site operators. In the UK this summer, together with DLL, the manufacturer carried out a first leasing project: eight fast-charging points at a filling station in Bedfordshire, where the independent operator did not have to bear the entire investment cost upfront. In France, the Greenspot model goes a step further, as the operator takes over financing, installation and operation completely.