Munich, October 5th 2021 – Munich-based smart grid company gridX today announced a collaboration with Fastned, a European operator of fast charging stations. The Amsterdam-based company is already the fourteenth international company and the eighth outside the DACH region to develop its own energy management solutions using gridX technology. Fastned’s goal is to build a pan-European network of 1,000 fast charging stations at prime locations where electric cars are charged exclusively with green electricity. gridX enables Fastned to run its fast charging stations more efficiently and sustainably. E.ON, Viessmann and DHL are already gridX customers.
Founded in 2012, Fastned builds and operates a network of fast charging stations in several European countries, enabling charging of up to 350 kW along the highway, in cities and at other convenient EV charging locations like supermarkets. In Germany, for example, the charging stations can already be found in the parking lots of the REWE supermarket chain.
The XENON energy platform developed by gridX is manufacturer-independent and serves as a building kit to quickly and cost-effectively develop energy and load management solutions. In this way, gridX provides individualized solutions for customers in various industries. The Fastned fast charging stations will use gridX's energy management system to optimize grid connection utilization and reduce costs.
Peak shaving allows significantly larger charging stations to be built without needing to increase the size of the grid connection. In addition, other generators can also be integrated, allowing local solar power to be directly harnessed. In the future, both companies would like to further expand their cooperation – Fastned wants to build its own dynamic load management system on XENON, integrate additional modules and features, and collect more data points. They also plan to integrate local PV and battery storage systems, as well as an interface for third-party signals, such as grid operator capacities or current electricity prices.
With Fastned, the Munich-based smart grid company gridX continues its international growth. Since its founding in 2016, gridX closed a Series A funding round in the mid-single-digit millions in 2018 and has now grown to over 60 employees.
David Balensiefen, co-founder and CEO of gridX, says, "with Fastned as a new customer, we are once again one step closer to our goal of advancing the energy transition as quickly as possible. Now that for the first time one million electric vehicles are on German roads, we also need the corresponding technology at charging stations to enable efficient and intelligent charging. This year, we want to equip as many as 20 Fastned charging stations in Germany and other countries with gridX technology to optimize the energy management of fast charging stations."
Roland van der Put, Head of Charging Technology at Fastned says, “we are very happy with the gridX technology being implemented at our stations. With this energy management system, we are able to optimize the utilization of our grid connections and reduce costs at our stations. Most importantly, this technology allows us to increase the charging capacity of our network and serve even more electric drivers.”
Fastned has been developing fast charging infrastructure for electric vehicles across Europe since 2012. Fastned’s mission is to accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility by giving freedom to electric drivers. Based in Amsterdam, the company has built 159 fast charging stations in the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Switzerland. Fastned is working on the expansion into France. The company specializes in developing and operating fast charging infrastructure where drivers can charge their electric vehicle with up to 300 km of range in 15 minutes before continuing their journey. Fastned is listed on Euronext Amsterdam (ticker AMS: FAST).
gridX is Europe's leading smart energy company based in Aachen and Munich. With its IoT platform XENON, gridX enables manufacturer-independent monitoring and management of distributed energy resources. XENON allows partners to develop and scale energy management solutions faster than ever before. By partnering with gridX, Fastned is able to install more charging points at sites without the need for costly grid extensions, and the Viessmann Group is able to offer its customers intelligent and integrated home energy management systems.
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