Telecommunications provider Proximus intends to cash in on the future of mobility, aiming to become a partner to Belgium’s ambitious vehicle electrification plans, the company announced in a press release on 15 July.
Proximus installed its first electric vehicle charging station in Mechelen at the end of 2021. Now, the company is aiming to massively scale up its operations, providing thousands of new charging points within the next five years. The charging points will be made available to the public and are set to first be installed in Flanders, then the rest of the country.
The Proximus charging points are reliant on the presence of nearby telecom cabinets, as the charging points draw power from these units. This vast network of cabinets will allow the company to quickly grow a large network of charging points. There are plans to install the charging points in semi-public areas, as well in businesses and car parks.
There are also plans to extend the service to hospitals, sports clubs, and cultural centres. This will ultimately provide access to green electricity for several thousand vehicles.
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Proximus is already in discussions with potential partners to help extend the network. The company hopes to sign an agreement by the end of the summer on expansion.
Some major Belgian companies are preparing for a series switch to electric cars within the near future. Flemish grid operator Fluvius recently announced that it will invest at least 4 billion into strengthening its grid to prepare for greater use of electric vehicles.
Fluvius expects that by 2030 there will be 1.5 million electric vehicles in the country. As of 2020, there were just 23,983 electric passenger vehicles on Belgian roads.
That would mean a 52 times increase in the amount of electric vehicles in less than eight years. All these vehicles would require high voltage charging points, something that the grid cannot currently tolerate.
