Today, the German government company Autobahn GmbH has awarded the Autostrom consortium the contract for the financing, planning, construction and operation of new fast-charging hubs with more than 300 charging points at unmanaged rest areas on German highways. It is planned that the new charging hubs, with charging capacities of up to 400 kW per charging station, will be commissioned by the end of 2026. They will subsequently be operated by the Autostrom consortium until the beginning of 2032, with a renewal option of two years. The leading consortium partners of the Autostrom consortium are the consulting, planning and project management company Drees & Sommer, which is headquartered in Stuttgart and specializes in construction, real estate and infrastructure; Hanover-based energy supplier enercity AG; and the charging park and filling station operator Q1 Energie AG, with legal seat in Osnabrück. Further members of the consortium are the Pohl Group, a company that is headquartered in Hohenwestedt and specializes in energy, infrastructure and road construction; Cologne-based energy services provider RheinEnergie AG, which – with its subsidiary TankE GmbH – specializes in the construction and operation of charging infrastructure; SWN Stadtwerke Neumünster GmbH and the charging infrastructure service provider Westfalen Weser Ladeservice GmbH from Paderborn.
The federal government’s plan for a nationwide network of fast-charging points, known as Deutschlandnetz (English: ‘German network’), will ensure the establishment of a reliable, needs-oriented fast-charging infrastructure across Germany, both on highways and in urban, suburban and rural areas.
After awarding contracts for 900 regional fast-charging locations in 23 regional lots in September 2023, the government has now taken the second step of allocating the six highway lots. In all, there are around 200 locations to be built at unmanaged highway park and rest areas. The allocation of the highway locations and regional lots is coordinated to avoid overlaps. With the two calls for tender, the German network includes more than 1,000 locations in total, so ensuring that the closest charging point anywhere in Germany can be reached within a few minutes.
Eliminating White Spots on the Charging Stations Map
Dr. Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital and Transport commented: “Individual mobility is a valuable commodity in a free society. For that reason I am delighted that the Deutschlandnetz is being expanded to include fast-charging points in the federal highway network. This will increase the offering for users, and the charging network on highways will grow noticeably. Our aim is to make it possible to reach the closest fast-charging location within a few minutes.” Companies awarded a highway lot will become the charge point operator (CPO) for that lot and install and operate the stations there. In exchange for its financial support, the government will receive a share of the income for eight years.
Dr. Michael Güntner, Chairperson of the Management Board of Autobahn GmbH said: “To cover long distances with an electric vehicle, drivers depend on being able to charge them. We want to make a contribution by helping drivers to make journeys on the highways without range anxiety. Autobahn GmbH is also committed to sustainable and environmentally friendly travel on the federal highways. “
Dr.-Ing. Burkhard Seizer, overall project manager at Autostrom and senior manager at Drees & Sommer, explained what it was that impressed Autobahn GmbH, which is responsible for the tendering procedure, in the consortium’s bid: „All the consortium partners have extensive expertise gathered over many years in their individual areas. We cover every element of the planning, construction and operation of fast-charging hubs. We prepared very thoroughly and are ready to go. We are delighted that the government trusts in our extensive experience and has awarded Autostrom the contract for several lots.“ For more than five years, his employer Drees & Sommer has been overseeing, in different roles, the installation of the fast-charging infrastructure on the federal highways. Thus Drees & Sommer’s specialists have broad expertise in all planning and installation service and performance phases.
Easy Charging with High Comfort and Full Capacity
“The successful growth of the market for electric vehicles requires the provision of reliable, high-capacity charging infrastructure along the main traffic routes. The charging infrastructure has to be easy for all drivers to find and get to,“ explained deputy overall project head Sebastian Herkenhoff, who represents Q1 Energie AG in the consortium.
He holds general commercial power of attorney and heads the teams in charge of the Digital and Sustainable Energy sections at the medium sized energy firm. As an operator of more than 230 conventional filling stations, Q1 brings to the project extensive experience in accounting for and operating a decentralized supply infrastructure. In addition to the charging capacity, uncomplicated handling of the charging stations is particularly important. Sebastian Herkenhoff added: “We offer users an accessible, convenient charging experience through the widespread deployment of EC debit card and credit card terminals and by accepting charge cards for a wide range of charge point brands.”
The energy service provider enercity AG will coordinate, inter alia, commissioning of the new charging points of Autostrom and supply all the 400 kW high performance chargers. Dr. Marc Hansmann, Management Board member of enercity, said: “We are delighted to realize this nationwide flagship project together with our partners. enercity has already participated in several charging structure projects in the private and corporate customer segments all over Germany. Among our customers are many firms and public sector organizations. So we are a reliable partner with expertise and resources for this type of large-scale projects. For enercity it is the largest order of this type in the history of our company. We are firmly convinced that a user-friendly and well-performing charging infrastructure is decisive for the design of a sustainable mobility system. This national large-scale project brings us closer to this target.”
Full Power for the Charging Parks of the Future
For energy technology and cable installation, Autostrom’s partner is the Pohl Group. One of the largest energy, infrastructure and road construction companies in northern Germany, the Pohl Group has extensive expertise in infrastructure construction projects. The distribution system operators and energy suppliers RheinEnergie AG, SWN Stadtwerke Neumünster GmbH and Westfalen Weser Ladeservice GmbH strengthen the capacity of the consortium. In addition to their high level of technical expertise in high and medium voltage facilities and in providing a secure energy supply to technical installations, all these companies have experience in the installation and operation of charging infrastructure. SWN Stadtwerke Neumünster GmbH ensures the supply of green energy to the charge points. nonoxx, a joint venture of Pohl Group and SWN Stadtwerke Neumünster GmbH, has been operating in the mobility sector across Germany for several years. Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord LB) provides advice to the consortium in the areas of structuring and finance.
Further information on the member companies of Autostrom:
Drees & Sommer: uniting opposites to create a world we want to live in.
What sets the partner-led consulting company Drees & Sommer SE apart is that they advise on and implement sustainable, innovative and economic solutions for real estate, industry, energy and infrastructure – or even offer clients both services from a single source. Inter-disciplinary teams working on over 5,000 projects worldwide pursue the goal of creating a livable future and uniting apparent opposites: tradition and future, analog and digital, efficiency and well-being. As entrepreneurs within the company, the personally responsible partners at Drees & Sommer are committed to this mission. (www.dreso.com)
enercity AG: the driving force of tomorrow’s energy world
Hanover-based enercity AG is a provider of sustainable and smart energy solutions. With sales of more than eight billion euros and around 3,000 employees (in fiscal 2022), the group is among the largest municipal energy service providers in Germany. The group of companies supplies electricity, gas, district heating and drinking water to around one million households. In addition, enercity offers energy consulting services with regard to electromobility, energy efficiency, decentralized solutions for customers, telecommunications and smart infrastructure. enercity aims to optimize its customers’ quality of life. (www.enercity.de)
Pohl Group: five companies – one family
The Pohl Group is a family-run company which consists of five specialist firms. The brothers Paul Willi Pohl and Hannes Pohl manage the company in the fourth generation. The Group companies cover different key areas such as energy, infrastructure and road construction, but have the same roots. Whether large scale industrial projects, municipal projects, commercial contracts or energy supply to private households – we take care of your matters. And that has been the case for over 70 years now. In 2022, we founded nonoxx pro GmbH, a joint venture with SWN Stadtwerke Neumünster GmbH. The purpose of this company is joint planning, construction and operation of charging infrastructure. Since its inception, nonoxx pro has installed 550 charging points in Germany. (www.gruppe-pohl.de)
Q1 Energie AG: quality first
Q1 is an independent German medium-sized enterprise. We are reliable providers of energy and mobility to our customers at more than 230 filling stations across Germany. Our wide range of high-quality lubricants are used for passenger vehicles, large trucks and industrial purposes. With our innovative energy solutions for e-mobility, LNG and photovoltaics, we actively contribute to a sustainable design of future-proof mobility. First class service and a motivated team bring the brand promise, ‘quality first,’ to life. (www.q1.eu)
RheinEnergie AG: energy for the whole region
RheinEnergie supplies energy and drinking water to the city of Cologne and the Rhineland region. Jointly with its partners, the company is responsible for supplying drinking water and energy to around 2.5 million people – industry, trade and commerce. The core competence of the utility provider are cooperations with local entities and companies all over Germany. RheinEnergie has a secure position in the German energy market, while remaining closely connected to the companies and the people of the Rhineland region. It is one of the most economically important companies in Cologne and its hinterland. Its subsidiary TankE GmbH specializes in planning, installation and operation of charging infrastructure. (www.rheinenergie.com)
SWN Stadtwerke Neumünster GmbH: designing the future together, today and tomorrow!
Stadtwerke Neumünster public utility company is a strong and reliable partner to the city of Neumünster and the surrounding region, which is situated in the middle of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. We invest in future-oriented energies and are relying on these to transform our more than 200-kilometer-long district heating network by 2035. To meet the growing demand for fast and reliable internet connection, we are systematically expanding our state-of-the-art fiber-optic network. We have already connected more than 300 cities and municipalities – more than 25 percent of the area of Schleswig-Holstein – to internet at the speed of light. In addition, we offer our customers sustainable mobility solutions. We were the first German public transport provider that introduced an online on-demand service, called Hin&Wech, for the entire bus transport network on Sundays. www.stadtwerke-neumuenster.de
Westfalen Weser Ladeservice GmbH: networked into the future
Westfalen Weser Ladeservice is a 360-degree provider of charging infrastructure. The company manages more than 1800 charge points and offers one-stop planning, hardware, installation, service and billing services for e-mobility systems. The range of products includes fleet solutions for commercial customers, car parks, the housing industry and fast electric vehicle charging hubs, with charging capacities of up to 400 kw, for gas stations or other locations near highways. (www.ww-ladeservice.com)