BP has partnered with real estate company Compagnie de Phalsbourg in France to build more than 25 HPC hubs by 2025. The venture marks the market debut of charging infrastructure subsidiary BP Pulse in France.
The 25 fast-charging parks will be located at shopping centres, primarily on the outskirts of major cities and near major highways. Each will be equipped with “state-of-the-art charging technology,” including 300-kW charging stations. The partners do not provide any further details. It thus remains unclear how many charging points are planned for each location and what charging capacities can be expected in addition to the 300-kW chargers mentioned.
The first locations will open before the end of the year. For the real estate company Compagnie de Phalsbourg, the cooperation with BP is part of its “1,000/100,000” plan to build more than 1,000 charging stations and photovoltaic systems with a total area of 100,000 square meters. According to the company, that solar power will be used at the charging stations.
Compagnie de Phalsbourg aims to “achieve energy autonomy for most of its real estate sites and accompany its visitors on the path to electromobility,” it says.
For BP Pulse, the project is its first commitment in France. Local competitor TotalEnergies has been active in the charging infrastructure market there for some time.
“France is a key market for us […]. We are delighted to work with such an innovative company as Compagnie de Phalsbourg to bring our charging solutions to the French market. We look forward to playing a role in France’s transition to zero-carbon transport,” says Stefan von Dobschütz, managing director Europe at BP Pulse.
The BP subsidiary describes itself as the operator of one of the largest public fast-charging networks in the UK and Germany, where it operates under the Aral pulse brand and “has over 1,400 charging points nationwide.” BP’s goal is to expand its network of public charging stations to more than 100,000 worldwide by 2030.