Flexpower - the largest intelligent charging network in Amsterdam

Vattenfall and the city of Amsterdam are now jointly operating under the name Flexpower.

"Flexpower" is said to be the largest smart charging network for electric vehicles in Amsterdam. Flexpower enables faster charging, the maximum use of electricity from renewable energies and more even utilization of the network, says Vattenfall.

A total of 456 charging stations were technically upgraded by Vattenfall with 912 charging points (which corresponds to a third of all electric car charging stations in the city) and connected to the intelligent charging network of Flexpower.

As the city of Amsterdam grows, the load on the power grid during peak hours in the morning or early evening increases by 2.5 to 5 times. Part of this increasing burden arises from the charging of electric vehicles. To reduce the peak load of the power grid, therefore, an intelligent charging is required.

Flexpower is designed to make the best use of available network capacity by matching the charging speed to power consumption and renewable energy generation. The charging stations provide slightly less power during the hours when households need a lot of energy, usually between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Meanwhile, since most electric cars are charged during off-peak hours, electric car drivers benefit from faster charging.

The Flexpower charging stations are set up so that they can be controlled based on the daily forecast of solar energy and grid loads.