The Municipality of The Hague in the Netherlands has awarded the management and maintenance of its 5,400 public charging points to Vattenfall InCharge.
Part of the agreement is the expansion of the network by 3,200 points over the next four years.
The new stations are prepared for smart charging technologies and feature easy payment options.
With a comprehensive and modern charging infrastructure, The Hague continues to work towards a healthy city with sustainable mobility.
Arjen Kapteijns, alderman for the Energy Transition, Mobility, Raw Materials and the Centrum city district, states: “The Hague continues to build a comprehensive network of public charging points within walking distance. The transition to sustainable transport, is one of the city’s key challenges.”
“Electric driving contributes to clean and healthy air. I therefore think it is important that we encourage its use and make electric driving as easy as possible for the residents of The Hague,” he adds.
Pieter van Ommeren, director Vattenfall InCharge, says: “We are extremely proud that the Municipality of The Hague chooses Vattenfall InCharge to realise their ambitions around sustainable mobility. In the coming years, we will use our expertise to further develop and optimise the charging infrastructure, with a focus on the congested electricity grid.”
And he continues: “This will allow us to install sufficient charging stations so that electric drivers in The Hague can charge carefree and easily.”
The Municipality of The Hague is committed to increase the ease of use of charging for residents with electric cars while making optimal use of the electricity grid’s capacity.
Parts of The Hague are also experiencing increasing grid congestion.
Thanks to the smart charging technology, the Vattenfall charging posts will be able to use the peaks and troughs in the power supply, contributing to a more stable electricity grid. In addition, the newly installed charging stations are “Vehicle-to-Grid ready”: Cars will then be able to store and feed back power to the grid.
Besides various technical innovations aimed at reducing grid congestion, the Municipality of The Hague, together with Vattenfall, is committed to optimising the ease of use of charging stations.
For example, electric drivers can pay by scanning the QR code on the charging station.
And in 2025, a pilot project will start with so-called Plug & Charge. As soon as the cable is connected, the charging session will start automatically, without the use of a charging card or mobile app.
It is worth noting that the number of electric vehicles in the Netherlands is increasing rapidly, including in The Hague.
That’s why Government, grid operators and installers are working closely together to enable easy and smart charging everywhere in the Netherlands.
