Driving the largest smart charging network in Benelux

The Dutch city of Rotterdam and its surrounding communes have selected Tractebel company ENGIE Laborelec’s SMATCH solution as the smart charging platform for 3,800 EV chargers to be installed over the next eight years. Additionally, the contract is being renewed for an existing 1,200 charging stations, for a total of over 10,000 charging connectors to be implemented with SMATCH. The project is part of a tender won by ENGIE Services Nederland for the massive extension of the region’s electric vehicle (EV) charging station network. In partnership with ENGIE Infra & Mobility NL, LMS and WeDriveSolar, the project began in July 2021 and is scheduled for completion in June 2029. 

Reducing peak demand with no impact on EV drivers
The use of SMATCH allows operators of charging station networks to significantly reduce their peak power demand. The solution contributes to balancing the grid by distributing charging sessions over time in an intelligent way, without inconveniencing EV drivers. In the tender, the contracting authority confirmed smart load balancing would be a decisive factor in granting the project. In a pilot project carried out in Rotterdam in 2020, ENGIE Laborelec implemented SMATCH on 58 charging points and successfully demonstrated that peak demand dropped by 21% with no impact on EV driver comfort. 

Driving into the future: Benelux’ largest smart charging platform
While details of SMATCH implementation have yet to be finalized, the new installation is set to become the largest smart charging platform in Benelux. Deploying SMATCH across the region’s EV charging station network also opens opportunities for other valuable applications, such as intermediate power storage using vehicle-to-grid and bringing more flexibility in balancing distribution and transmission networks.

And the mandate goes to…
The consortium was chosen over three competitors to implement the project, with the strength of the partnership being a decisive factor: ENGIE Infra & Mobility’s experience with previous EV-charging infra concessions, combined with the demonstrated smart charging expertise of ENGIE Laborelec in Rotterdam, renowned Dutch charging point operator LMS and charging points manufacturer WeDriveSolar.

On the road to sustainable mobility
The new smart charging platform will help pave the way for the future of EV deployment. It will enable vehicle charging at optimum times from a grid perspective, based on lower energy price, lower CO2 content and/or lower grid stress, thereby contributing to the decarbonization of the energy mix.

“We are very excited about this key project won in Rotterdam. The city and surrounding municipalities have been actively involved for years in public EV charging, and we are honoured by their trust in our expertise. This confirms the strong interest in Tractebel’s smart charging solution within the business-to-technology segment, and the growing recognition of the quality of our smart charging management system SMATCH.”
 

For more information about this project, you can contact:

Laurent DE VROEY
Technology Manager - Electric Mobility Lab, ENGIE Laborelec in Belgium
laurent.devroey@tractebel.engie.com

Want to know more about SMATCH? Watch the pilot project video.