The Netherlands is switching to sustainable transport: by 2050, all transport must be emission-free. This has been agreed in the Climate Agreement. In 2030, not only are almost 2 million electric cars expected on Dutch roads, but also electric trucks, vans, scooters and mobile equipment. These vehicles can only be charged with a well-covered charging network. Due to the current problems with grid congestion, it is a huge challenge to meet this charging need. The National Charging Infrastructure Agenda (NAL) is working to achieve this task by ensuring that the development of charging infrastructure is in line with the rollout of electric vehicles.
North Cooperation Region
Within the framework of the NAL, the provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Fryslân form the RAL-Noord cooperation region. It has been agreed with the government that RAL-Noord will support municipalities in the rollout of charging infrastructure. RAL-Noord does this by sharing knowledge and skills, helping municipalities to draw up an integrated charging vision and installation policy for the public charging infrastructure. This collaboration runs at a regional level because bundling and coordination between the private and public charging network is one of the biggest challenges.
Working groups
Within RAL-Noord, a working group has been set up for different types of charging stations and different target groups:
- Private: these are the charging stations that anyone can request and have installed in their driveway.
- Semi-public: this concerns charging stations on private property that are (temporarily) opened to other parties or residents.
- Public: this concerns charging stations in public spaces. They complement the private and semi-public charging network. The poles are installed through a concession. This attempts to generate a covering charging network.
- Fast charging: these charging stations (>24 kWh) are mainly placed along provincial roads for fast charging.
- Logistics: loading for logistics is a major challenge for the coming years. Possibilities include charging at your own company, charging on industrial estates and corridor charging (along the road). It is currently being explored how logistics can be provided with a comprehensive charging network as best as possible.
- Agriculture/construction: together with other regions and the government, RAL-Noord is developing a ‘Charging Infrastructure Approach for Electric Construction Equipment’.
- Pleasure and inland shipping: RAL-Noord is currently following national developments.
Covering charging network for all modalities in the Northern Netherlands
All working groups have drawn up a vision for the period up to and including 2030. The expected result is a comprehensive charging network for all different modalities in the Northern Netherlands, with continuous coordination with the network operators and municipalities. Because this field is an incremental process, it involves many innovative interventions, such as Smart Charging and sharing grid connections.
The following goals have been set for 2024:
- Delivering an action plan for industrial estates (supporting municipalities and companies).
- Realizing +/- 500 public charging stations in the Northern Netherlands.
- Creating a comprehensive network of public charging stations (by the end of 2025 at the latest).
- A conference on making construction logistics more sustainable (charging at the construction site) in collaboration with Municipality of Groningen and Bouwend Nederland.
- Informing and supporting owners of parking locations about the possibility of installing semi-public charging infrastructure.
- Pilot sharing public transport grid connections for public charging infrastructure.
