Amsterdam, The Netherlands 
March 26, 2025 The province of Gelderland and Park&Charge by Qwello have worked closely together to enable the reuse of 191 charging stations, most of them EVBox brand. After a 10-year concession period, the charging stations were overhauled in the space of 4 months to keep them operational until at least 2032 and to function according to the new NEN standards. This process required significantly less consumption of raw materials compared to completely replacing the charging stations. This alternative to replacing charging stations is a unique approach and serves as an inspirational project for other provinces and charge point operators.
After the concession period expired at the end of 2023, the province of Gelderland was looking for a partner to modernize the existing charging stations. Usually, in such a situation, new charging stations are installed, but the province did not rule out the possibility of keeping the existing stations. In line with the circular ambitions of Park&Charge by Qwello, it was decided to update 191 charging stations from the brands EVBox and Ecotap in a short period of time and with minimal modifications.
Use existing infrastructure
“The market for charging stations is relatively new, and in many places the first generation of charging stations is coming to the end of its initial lifetime. The question is increasingly being raised: what should we do with all these chargers? We believe that the existing infrastructure can and should be used. Only then will we be acting sustainably and be able to keep up with the speed of the necessary energy transition. This requires all parties to think and act differently,” says Jeroen Franken of Park&Charge.
Less strict requirements for concessions
When a new concession is issued, the government imposes requirements on the charging stations. Franken: “Because it is a new market, the requirements that are often imposed are still quite strict. This can make maintaining existing stations a real challenge. It is important that those who issue the request for proposals start thinking more in terms of conservation and adjust the requirements accordingly. In many cases, it is simply not necessary to use new posts. It turns out that there are very good alternative methods. This not only saves scarce materials, but also capacity at contractors and grid operators. We are committed to investigating new and innovative possibilities. With the relevant insights about the charging stations from Gelderland, we hope to arrive at the best solution together with other customers. The circular use of charging stations is new, and we have approached this project with a great deal of trust in each other and in the process. We hope this will serve as an example for other provinces and CPO’s.”
Modifications to stations
During the tender process, the province of Gelderland allowed Park&Charge to assess the charging stations and determine what was needed to bring them back into compliance with the new NEN standards. Park&Charge by Qwello determined that refurbishing the chargers using LF Energy’s EVerest software stack was the most sustainable way to equip the 191 locations with future-proof charging solutions. This open-source platform, combined with the PhyVERSO charge controller co-developed by Qwello, Pionix, and Phytec, provided a robust and reliable system. At 185 charging stations, only the controllers and the RCDs were replaced. The other six charging stations required virtually no modifications, as only the software was transferred to the Park&Charge network.