Electrifying an underground multi-tenant parking lot
1h video – 20min presentation – 40 minutes Q&A - French
Hervé De Ruytter - Asset Manager at Fidentia - and Philippe Stegen - Manager of Business Unit “Electricity” at Deplasse & Associates - will talk about the steps and challenges they faced throughout the installation of 60 EV stations in the underground parking of the Solaris office building in Brussels:
- The steps they followed from the decision to install EV charging stations up to their installation
- The challenges they faced throughout the process: technical, security, insurance, contractual, and ROI
- Their ideas about how to manage their usage by tenants
About Solaris
Solaris (13400 m2) is the first "green" building in Belgium:
- Geothermal energy
- Photovoltaic panel batteries on the roof and facade of the building
- Energy optimization to be self-sufficient in electricity
- Modular and scalable energy distribution system (Canalis)
- In the -2nd floor of the parking, every other parking space is equipped with a charging station
What we learned from the session:
The project was initiated by listening to the needs of both the building's tenants and the real estate market.
- Questionnaire sent to tenants to identify their needs regarding the building.
- Contacted Deplasse bureau to conduct a feasibility study:
- Identifying the tenants' profiles
- Analyzing the building from various perspectives: budget, security, regulations, energy
- Evaluating different scenarios to compare them
Deployment Strategy for the 60 Charging Stations
- Budgetary aspects —> avoid overinvesting in electrical connection:
- Analyzing the energy capacity of the building
- Prioritizing modular and scalable solutions (Canalis)
- Safety aspects --> grouping the charging stations at the highest level of the underground parking:
- Adapting rental leases
- Contacting the Fire Forum (an organization that establishes best practices for the placement of charging stations)
- Smoke and heat evacuation system
- Compartmentalization system
- Fire detection system
- Analyzing the risks during visits
- Regulatory aspects —> contacting the insurer:
- Choosing whether or not to use sprinklers (fixed automatic water-based extinguishing installation)
- Little regulation on the subject
- Some insurers require risk sharing between two insurance companies
- Cobrace has no impact on electrified parking spaces
- The ratio law sets stricter guidelines and facilitates decision-making for the placement of charging stations in Brussels
- Energy aspects —> considering the evolution of battery technology
- In the near future, EVs will no longer be charged every day
- 30% ratio of parking spaces with a charging station
The Business Model and the Two Main Levers for ROI
- Charging a usage fee that covers the depreciation of the charging stations (fixed annually)
- Activating fees based on the type of charging station usage (variable fees):
- Payment for the amount of energy used
- Payment for the amount of time the parking space is occupied
What type of charging stations was chosen?
- Studied the building's consumption peaks and user needs.
- Demonstrated that the charging stations should be a maximum of 22 kW.
- Fast charging stations for outdoor parking spaces
How to Choose the Right Charging Station Supplier?
- Watch out for interoperability issues to avoid being tied to one installer.
- Find suppliers independent of operators to guarantee quality and anticipate future maintenance.
- Centralized management system.
- No proprietary protocol for operating the charging stations (an open system to add more stations in the future without replacing the rest of the installation).