Energy sector: Do not create an oversupply of charging infrastructure

The CEO of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), Kerstin Andrae, has warned against creating an oversupply of charging stations by 2030 and called for a dynamic expansion target for the charging infrastructure. No one can say today what e-mobility will look like in ten years. "However, that will determine what charging infrastructure is needed," explained the former Green Party Bundestag member, who served in Parliament for the eco-party from 2002 to 2019 and then transitioned to the top of the association, as she told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. She pointed out that measures like a city toll or a ban on combustion engines in cities could significantly influence development. The one million charging stations planned by the federal government, primarily fast chargers, are intended to serve the projected 15 million electric cars on German roads. Recently, the largest fast-charging park of EnBW in Kamen (NRW) went into operation.

"There is a danger that we will create an oversupply and many charging stations will simply not be used," warned Andrae.

As a result, competition among providers could suffer, which is necessary to ensure the best offers and prices for consumers, further warned the association's leader. The expansion target for the charging infrastructure can only be a "dynamic" one, the former politician further advocated.

The traffic light coalition has set itself the goal of promoting expansion even before the corresponding demand exists, so that the facilities can be economically operated from the start. Before Christmas, the new FDP Transport Minister Volker Wissing awarded a major contract to the federal Autobahn GmbH to create fast-charging infrastructure along highways and unmanaged parking lots. The VDA had called for faster expansion and deemed about 2,000 new public charging points per week necessary instead of the current roughly 300.