Charging Green!: Greenpeace Energy to Build a Green Electricity Charging Network

With the cooperative "Ladegrün!", the eco-energy providers Elektrizitätswerke Schönau, Greenpeace Energy, Inselwerke, and Naturstrom, along with GLS Bank, have founded a joint venture to establish and operate a green charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. The provider, based in Berlin, aims to set up more than 100 charging points in 2021, and up to 4,000 charging points nationwide by 2025. According to the provider, these will be supplied with high-quality green electricity from the participating energy suppliers. Besides the public charging infrastructure, the operator also plans to establish non-public or semi-public charging points, for example for commercial customers, housing projects, and ecologically oriented operators of electric vehicle fleets.

“E-mobility is really only meaningful for the energy transition and climate protection if the vehicles are charged with renewable energies. That is why a green charging infrastructure is urgently needed, which we are now building," argues Armin Komenda, Chairman of Ladegrün!’s Supervisory Board and Executive Board of EWS.

In the rapidly growing market for charging infrastructure, conventional energy suppliers and the automotive industry are currently the main players, the provider further justifies its move. The founding partners of the cooperative, who together serve around one million customers, aim to create an ecological alternative.

“As credible green energy providers, we are filling an important market gap here. Environmentally conscious e-mobilists want to charge truly sustainable and energy-transition-supportive electricity of the highest quality. And they get that from us," promotes Nils Müller, Executive Board of Greenpeace Energy.

The green electricity from the columns should not be more expensive than the conventional competitor's charging stations fed with climate-damaging gray electricity, they promise. As a citizens' energy cooperative with several years of experience in developing ecological charging solutions and currently operating around 200 charging points for electric cars, Inselwerke is also participating in the company.

“Every location and every customer needs tailored solutions,” advocates Frank Haney, Executive Board of Inselwerke and a founding board member of the new cooperative.

The cooperative will not only operate its own charging stations and set up turnkey charging infrastructure for business partners but also offer customers services like technical and commercial management of charging points, according to further information.

“Together, we bring comprehensive expertise to all areas of the energy market,” says Oliver Hummel, Executive Board of Naturstrom.

Therefore, they will be a reliable partner for all those seeking climate-friendly solutions for their mobility needs and those of their customers. The cooperative, which is still being established and is open to further partners, is expected to start operations in February or March 2021 once it is registered in the cooperative register. They have consciously chosen the legal form of a registered cooperative, explains Mirko Schulte, Head of Mobility at GLS Bank.