Grip on the grid

Congress Charging Infrastructure ’26: industry considers growing pressure on power grid

De vraag die centraal staat bij het Congres Laadinfra: Hoe houden we daarom grip op de laadinfrastructuur terwijl het elektriciteitsnet onder druk staat? Foto: ProMedia

The power grid is jammed. Waiting lists are emerging in more and more regions, and sometimes the grid is even completely shutting down. How do we keep a grip on the charging infrastructure while the power grid is under pressure? This question is at the heart of the Congres Laadinfra, which takes place on Tuesday 12 May in De Rijtuigenloods in Amersfoort.

With themes such as grid congestion, price transparency, smart charging, vehicle-to-grid, AI and the electrification of heavy transport, this year’s Congres Laadinfra focuses on the next phase of the energy transition: from rollout to smart, scalable integration.

The day will be kicked off in the main hall by chairman of the day Tom Jessen, who will place the rapid scale-up of charging infrastructure in a broader societal context. This is followed by a presentation by Martijn Repko, country director for the Netherlands at fast-charging company Fastned. He discusses what grid congestion means concretely for the rollout of fast charging stations. He also discusses the role of battery storage, smart steering and flexibilisation of supply and demand. A panel will then feature Marieke Donkervoort, president of NAL, and Hugo van Halder, president of Vereniging Doet. They will take visitors through the current state of the charging infrastructure in the Netherlands and look ahead to the next steps.

After the opening in the main hall, there will be several parallel sessions throughout the day. For instance, Nanet Rutten of MRA-Elektrisch will discuss grid-conscious charging in practice. Last winter, eight CPOs activated grid-aware charging at all public charging stations in the region. What was the impact on users? How did EV drivers react to this measure?

Price transparency

There will also be a session on prices at the charging station, as these are still often unclear to many EV drivers. This panel discussion brings together all links in the chain. From the perspective of the driver (VER), price comparison and insight (Charging PassTop10), e-mobility service providers (E-flux) and a major CPO/MSP (Vattenfall InCharge) will look at what “fair” and understandable price information means in practice.

Also taking place is an interview with Jeroen van Tilburg, ceo of fast-charging company Ionity, in which he shares the company’s growth strategy in the Netherlands. They will discuss Ionity’s positioning within the charging landscape, the role of high-power charging in the energy transition and the choices that determine where and how fast Ionity continues to scale up.

At the end of the day, Richard de Kam of NKL Netherlands will take visitors through a new roadmap for the transition to circular charging infrastructure, commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. De Kam explains the creation and content of this sector-wide ‘roadmap’. What are the main objectives, where are the biggest bottlenecks and what steps are needed to actually integrate circularity into the design, tendering and operation of charging infrastructure?

Charging Infrastructure Innovation Award

The Charging Infrastructure Innovation Award will also be presented again: recognition for an innovative product, service or project that has an impact on the charging infrastructure sector. This year, the following innovations are competing for the award: Smart foundation for charging stations by ElaadNL, AI Driver Support by Monta and Retrofit by Qwello. Voting is possible until Tuesday 12 May, noon.

Would you like to attend the congress? Then register via congreslaadinfra.nl

This article was automatically translated from the Dutch language original to English (British).

Author: Nina Koelewijn

Source: MobilityEnergy.com

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