Italy: Fuel station operator IP wants to install high-power chargers

The Italian petrol station brand plans to offer fast chargers in its home country. IP has brought investor Macquarie on board to establish a joint venture called IPLANET to oversee the new HPC network. (Update at the end of the article)

Once regulators approve, both partners will hold an equal share in the IPLANET joint venture. Macquarie expects work to start before the year’s end and signed a binding agreement last week.

IP and the investor target 510 pit stops, where 150 kW and 300 kW fast chargers shall replace petrol pumps. This conversion of what IP calls its “full portfolio” will be completed by 2032.

The partners further announce that on-site solar panels shall power the sites (where possible) connected to a battery system, securing the energy flow and boosting high-power charges. The existing petrol station infrastructure will also benefit EV drivers with the usual catering, shopping and car care service.

IP belongs to the oil corporration Anonima Petroli Italiana, API for short. IP received 29.3 million euros in funding from the EU this month to install charging infrastructure through the EU Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) program.

“Our vision of petrol stations as key transition infrastructure comes to life with IPLANET: a multi-energy, multi-service hub meeting the different mobility needs of Italians”, said Ugo Brachetti Peretti, president of IP Group API. “Together with the acquisition of the ESSO Italian assets, this agreement gives our Group the scale and operational capacity needed to spread sustainable mobility: from electric to increasingly cleaner traditional fuels, from biofuels to hydrogen.”

IP and API join several oil and gas corporations which are reutilising their prominent sites to host new EV infrastructure. Shell and BP are doing the same, often with public funding.

Update 5 April 2024

The Italian petrol station brand IP and the investor Macquarie have now founded their fast-charging joint venture IPLANET. After receiving official authorisation, IPLANET began operations this week. The partners initially plan to invest over 200 million euros over the next three years to build fast and ultra-fast charging stations for electric cars at 300 IP petrol stations in Italy. As mentioned above, 510 IP locations will be equipped with fast charging stations to replace petrol pumps by 2032.

macquarie.com, in.marketscreener.com (update)