Ljubljana (Slovenia), 25 April 2018 – Today Dirk Beckers, Director of Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) of the EU Commission, handed over the Grant Agreement to Allego in which the financial support of 29 million Euros to the MEGA-E project is confirmed.
The official event took place during the Transport and Mobility conference TEN-T days in Ljubljana. The European MEGA-E (Metropolitan Greater Areas Electrified) project is an Allego initiative and aims to deploy 322 Ultra-fast Charging locations including 39 multimodal charging hubs in at least 10 European metropolitan areas.
“This agreement is a further milestone in our e-mobility offensive in Europe,” said Anja van Niersen, CEO of Allego. “We are proud to create a European Ultra Charging network that not only reduces charging times of next generation’s electric cars with charging up to 350 kW, but also facilitates metropolitan areas with smart multimodal charging hubs. These charging hubs consist of park and ride facilities and intermodal nodes such as train stations and bus terminals, allowing Ultra Charging and/or intermodality with e-taxis, e-car sharing, e-logistics or e-buses all at the same location.”
Within the MEGA-E project, Allego will cooperate with both local and international partners. Additional partners such as cities and companies are welcome to participate in this project. The roll-out has currently started with the first location up and running in June. The MEGA-E projects starts in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Allego believes in an open and interoperable charging network that has no lock-ins and is accessible for all car brands and users. Because of its regional focus, Europe still encounters fragmented EV charging infrastructure networks. Allego aims to create the best conditions for consumers so that they choose clean electric mobility.
Around 70 percent of traffic in Europe takes place in urban areas, where the CO2 impact is the highest. With the charging network of MEGA-E Allego facilitates several forms of e-mobility and supports emission free travelling not only within, but also from one metropolitan area to another. The creation of so-called ‘charging hubs’ with combined multiple charging solutions on the same location to charge electric vehicles is unique. The charging hubs have an optimal impact on and offer effectiveness for both the energy and mobility system.
The MEGA-E project builds upon the vision developed by the EU in 2009 when the innovation cluster in the TEN-T/CEF program was developed. The project is among the first to implement this at a pan European scale. Further details about locations and location partners will be given at a later stage.