SOCAR wins concession for first-time construction of electric charging stations at Swiss motorway resting places

SOCAR Energy Switzerland has obtained one of five concessions awarded by the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) for the construction of 20 fast electric charging stations at Swiss motorway resting places.

SOCAR is the only traditional filling station operator to win a concession. The company already operates seven fast charging stations at its 11 service stations and has the largest network on the Swiss motorways. This network will now be gradually expanded over the next few years with the addition of motorway resting places. SOCAR is pro-actively developing its role as a mobility provider and is investing in future mobility solutions in addition to its fuel services. Customers benefit from an increasingly closely meshed supply and planning security.

The Federal Government only created the legal scope for installing electric charging stations at motorway resting places, which are under federal government control, a few months ago by amending legislation. The Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) then held a public invitation-to-tender for five concession packages, each containing 20 resting places, to enable private investors to construct electric charging stations at resting places in addition to the service stations themselves. As an experienced and committed operator of charging stations, SOCAR Energy Switzerland decided to bid for one of the concession packages right from the outset.

SOCAR was the only filling station operator to win a bid.

FEDRO was impressed by SOCAR Energy Switzerland’s bid. SOCAR secured one of the five highly coveted concession packages for the construction of 20 fast charging stations at resting places. The locations contained in the individual packages are spread across Switzerland. SOCAR regards this as confirmation of its longstanding commitment to Swiss electromobility.

Edgar Bachmann, CEO of SOCAR Energy Switzerland, was delighted to secure the FEDRO contract: “The development of motorway resting places will enable SOCAR to expand its existing network of fast charging stations on the major traffic routes. We are still in the early stages, but the increasingly extensive network coverage will eventually help electromobility to establish itself. We showed strong commitment to investing in this future-oriented technology from an early stage. We are also open to all other kinds of new and future-oriented drive technologies that support mobility. We see ourselves as a mobility provider and are also developing our existing infrastructure and services based on this outlook.”

SOCAR demonstrated its vast experience of constructing and maintaining electric charging stations on motorways in its bid. In exactly the same way as it is no longer sufficient to provide only fuel at filling stations, purely fast charging stations do not just offer the supply of electricity. Customers must be provided with high-quality service and added value.

While the existing SOCAR charging stations were constructed in cooperation with a partner, the new ones will be built independently for the first time. The sustainably produced electricity will be purchased from regional power utilities in the locations concerned. SOCAR provides customers with fast and easy access to its charging stations.

The 20 new fast charging stations are set to be constructed in stages between 2019 and 2023. SOCAR will provide details on the individual projects in due course.

SOCAR operates in both wholesale and retail markets, offering its customers superior quality services at its retail stations and a wide range of products at wholesale. In Ukraine there are 61 petrol stations operating under the SOCAR brand. In Romania the company offers 41 “premium” retail stations and even more so in Turkey with 9, in Georgia with 113 petrol and 32 natural gas stations. In Switzerland, 170 retail stations operate under the SOCAR brand. Besides, SOCAR Energy Holdings entered into the Austrian retail fuel market by taking over 82 petrol stations owned by A1 company, as well as mineral oil trading company Pronto Oil.