Kempower supplies electric bus chargers to Lippe, Germany

Public transport operator Kommunale Verkehrsgesellschaft Lippe (KVG) has opted for a solution from Kempower for its first electric bus depot. The Finnish manufacturer has supplied a system with twelve DC charging points and a total output of 1,350 kW and further locations will follow.

Daimler buses mercedes benz ecitaro elektrobus electric bus kvg lippe kempower ladestation charging station min — Image: Kempower

The charging station was built on the premises of the Motzek travel service in Lage, which is east of the German city of Bielefeld. It is a standard Kempower solution consisting of spatially separated power units and charging satellites, designed to keep the system as compact as possible with the slim satellites at the charging point itself – often an important criterion when retrofitting electric bus charging infrastructure in existing depots.

KGV Lippe planned and implemented the system together with Westfalen Weser Ladeservice in seven months, according to the Kempower announcement. Further locations in the region are to follow: the Motzek depot in Lage is only the first of a total of six planned locations to supply KVG Lippe’s entire electric bus fleet. The first electric bus was delivered in the summer, and 39 electric buses are planned in total.

The modular Kempower system with power units and satellites enables dynamic load management between the charging points in order to utilise the connection capacity with maximum operational reliability. Together with KVG, an intelligent energy management system has also been developed that specifically shifts charging processes to time slots with favourable electricity prices. According to Kempower, this approach should enable annual energy cost savings in the six-figure range.

Elektrobus electric bus kvg lippe kempower ladestation charging station min — Image: Kempower

“The introduction of electric mobility in regional transport is a key step for us. It is impressive how well our team and all our partners have worked together. Without this commitment, implementation would not have been possible in such a short time,” says Thomas Brosig, authorised signatory at KVG Lippe.

“The project in Lage is a real showcase project for us. We were able to demonstrate that high-performance charging infrastructure can also be implemented quickly, reliably, and future-proof in regional transport,” added Andreas Stoller, authorised signatory at Westfalen Weser Ladeservice.

kempower.com, lippemobil.de (first handover, in German)

This article was first published by Elias Holdenried for electrive’s German edition.