European-based Fastned has received a €75 million (£65 million) investment from British multinational asset management firm Schroders Capital to expand its EV charging network.
The fast-charging firm will utilise the capital to expand its EV network that spans across the EU and UK. This will provide a basis to scale EV adoption by providing additional areas to charge.
Schroders Capital’s commitment is said to be an important step in Fastned’s growth strategy which aims to have 1,000 EV charging stations by 2030.
“I’m very pleased to welcome Schroders Capital as a long-term investor to Fastned. This provides Fastned with the funding to continue to roll out our network, enabling us to make the next big step towards reaching our goal of 1,000 stations before 2030,” said Michiel Langezaal, CEO Fastned.
“With Schroders Capital, one of Europe’s largest independent investment firms on board, Fastned is able to accelerate the pace of building fast charging stations even further, catering to the exponentially growing demand for fast charging services.
“Building a wide and reliable fast charging network powered by wind and sun, plays an important part in the fight against climate change and the path towards energy independence.”
Scaling charging stations for EVs is becoming a key aspect in scaling its adoption. This is of particular importance with the International Energy Agency (IEA) having found that across the globe, EV sales increased to a record of 6.6 million whereas forecasted global renewable energy capacity deployments in 2022 are set to push through the 300GW mark for the first time.
Fatsned has stated it intends to use the proceeds to fund part of the company’s capex plan that consists of expanding the capacity of its existing stations and accelerate growth of EV charging stations across Europe.
Fatsned has also been involved in one of Europe’s “most powerful” EV charging hubs situated in Oxford, with 42 fast and ultra-rapid chargers.
Several providers installed chargers at the facility, which has been developed by EDF Renewables subsidiary Pivot Power with the participation of the Oxford City Council, including 10 300kW charging bays from Fastned, 20 7-22kW chargers from Wenea and 12 250kW Tesla Superchargers.
The Oxford charging hub will be directly connected to the National Grid’s transmission network – unlike other UK charging hubs which are generally connected to the distribution network – by a four-mile underground cable that could simultaneously charge hundreds of EVs without straining the local electricity network or needing costly upgrades.
