- Agreements between Italy’s leading electric vehicle charging operators simplify the experience for electric drivers and enable interoperability between networks, giving the opportunity to access the country's largest charging network.
Rome, 22 December 2021 - Enel X, Be Charge, a subsidiary of Eni gas e luce (from 2022 Plenitude), and Eni have signed agreements enabling electric drivers to fill up their vehicles with energy throughout Italy using the infrastructure of the three companies, which has around 20,000 electric charging points.
Enel X, the country’s largest operator in the public charging infrastructure sector with over 13,000 points, and Be Charge, the second largest player in Italy, manage the country’s main electric vehicle charging networks. They have a widespread presence in all regions and major cities and an investment plan that aims to spread e-mobility through the installation of high-powered chargers that allow an ultra-fast, easy and totally safe charging experience.
The partnership between the companies enables interoperability between their charging networks, allowing customers to access the service easily from their smartphones via the Enel X, BeCharge and Eni Live apps, and thus charge indifferently on the Enel X and BeCharge networks.
“The interoperability of charging infrastructures is a fundamental element in the strategy to spread electric mobility in Italy, and that is why we are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Be Charge and Eni, operators who, like us, strongly believe in the electrification of transport,” said Federico Caleno, Head of e-Mobility Italy. “In recent years we have built a comprehensive charging network covering the entire Italian peninsula, allowing people to drive electric cars with total peace of mind. Today, through this partnership, we are further demonstrating how important it is to work in synergy with partners to make the transition to electric power even easier and more affordable.”
“The agreements fit perfectly into Be Charge’s strategy of offering travellers an increasingly easy energy refuelling experience and even more innovative services. Thanks to strategic partnerships, such as those with Enel X and Eni, we want to confirm once again our commitment to sustainable mobility, a key element in the energy transition to which we wish to contribute through the appropriate dissemination of charging systems and the infrastructure to manage them. We have a plan for rapid growth in Europe, aiming to reach more than 31,000 charging points by 2030,” said Simone Zuccotti, President of Be Charge and Head of Innovation and Business Development at Eni gas e luce.
“This synergy is part of Eni’s broader strategy for the mobility of the future, which includes the evolution of the current service stations, mobility points at which we plan, among other things, to offer fast and ultra-fast charging for electric mobility. The plan includes the installation of more than 1,000 charging stations on the network of our stations in Italy and abroad by 2025,” stated Giovanni Maffei, Head of Green and Traditional Refining & Marketing at Eni. “In addition, interoperability for electric vehicle charging is included in our Eni Live app, which allows drivers to access various services with increasingly automated, efficient and secure payments.”
The agreement benefited from the exemption from the application of the rules on transactions between related parties pursuant to the procedures adopted by Enel and Eni.
Enel X is the Enel group’s brand that offers services to accelerate innovation and drive the energy transition. World leader in the sector of advanced energy solutions, Enel X manages services such as demand response for 7.7 GW of total capacity globally and 195 MW of storage capacity installed worldwide. On the occasion of Capital Markets Day 2021 and the presentation of the Enel Group's 2022-2024 Strategic Plan, the creation of a Business Line dedicated to electric mobility has been announced, managing approximately 245,000 public and private charging points for electric vehicles available all over the world1, and to the promotion and development of projects and services for the diffusion of e-mobility in the countries in which the Enel Group operates.
1Public and private charging points. It includes interoperability points.
Be Charge is a Be Power SpA Group company, recently acquired by Eni gas e luce (from 2022 Plenitude), dedicated to the deployment of charging infrastructure for electric mobility. Its mission is to become a key player in the radical transformation in the energy sector by bringing together, through innovative management of digital flows, the field of energy with mobility. Through one of the largest and most extensive networks of public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Italy, Be Charge wants to make a decisive contribution to the development of a sustainable mobility system. It currently has over 6,500 charging points distributed throughout the country. These stations are smart and user-friendly, monitored 24 hours a day by a help desk and accessible via the mobile app. Within the sector chain, Be Charge plays both the role of manager and owner of the charging infrastructure network (CPO - Charge Point Operator), and that of charging and electric mobility service provider working directly with electric vehicle users (EMSP - Electric Mobility Service Provider). Be Charge charging stations are of the Quick (up to 22 kW) AC, Fast (up to 150 kW) or HyperCharge (above 150 kW) DC type.
Eni is an integrated energy company with more than 30,000 employees in 68 countries worldwide. In 2021, the company launched a new strategy that will enable it to provide a variety of fully decarbonized products, combining environmental and financial sustainability. The recent integration of renewables, retail and electric mobility into Eni gas e luce (from 2022 Plenitude), the development of biorefineries and biomethane production, and the sale of low-carbon energy carriers and mobility services at service stations, are among the main levers for embarking on the path to decarbonization.
Eni aims to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, supporting a just energy transition that meets the challenge of climate change with concrete and economically sustainable solutions by promoting efficient and sustainable access to energy resources for all.