French charging infrastructure operator Greenspot is implementing a standardised concept that will be largely identical across all 30 sites. A 200-kW Power Unit from Kempower supplies two Dual Satellites, providing a total of four charging points. The available power is dynamically distributed among the connected vehicles.
The systems are primarily intended for supermarkets and other retail locations with medium-sized car parks. According to Kempower, they can be connected via France’s commercial electricity tariff (‘tarif jaune’) without requiring a dedicated transformer station. This is expected to reduce construction time and investment costs.
Five sites are already operational: at Bricomarché in Montgiscard, Intermarché Super in Lanton, and three Aldi branches in Benesse-Maremne, Izon, and Saint-Ciers-sur-Gironde. Additional installations are planned at locations including Aldi, Franprix, Intermarché, and Cultura.
Greenspot handles financing and operation
No capital investment is required from the retailers themselves. Greenspot finances, installs, and operates the charging infrastructure under its third-party investment model. The sites remain part of the Greenspot network, while retailers can expand their car parks to include charging services.
The architecture deployed by Kempower is modular. A central Power Unit supplies multiple charging points and dynamically allocates the available power based on the vehicles’ requirements. Additional Satellites or extra power can be added later. According to Kempower, this enables expansion without the need to design the charging infrastructure for maximum future demand from the outset.
Greenspot now operates more than 1,500 charging points in France and aims to increase this number to 8,500 by 2030. Founded in 2016, the company focuses particularly on charging infrastructure at retail and corporate locations.
Kempower is also pursuing other financing models to lower the entry barrier for site operators. In the UK, the Finnish manufacturer implemented its first leasing project in the summer alongside DLL. There, eight fast-charging points were installed at a petrol station in Bedfordshire without the independent operator having to bear the full upfront investment costs.
In France, the Greenspot model goes a step further. Here, the operator fully covers financing, installation, and operation. For Kempower, the cooperation is not just another hardware rollout but also part of a model aimed at accelerating the expansion of fast-charging infrastructure at retail locations without high initial investments from the retailers.
