200 new fast and ultra-fast charging stations for electric vehicles to be added to Carrefour stations

It is estimated that by 2030, one in three vehicles sold will be electric. To keep up with this growth, more charging stations need to be installed throughout the country and the "range anxiety", one of the last obstacles to the mass adoption of this type of vehicle, needs to be tackled.

The deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure networks must accompany and even anticipate electric vehicle sales. In 2021 in France, the number of charging stations open to the public has increased by 64% in one year.

To achieve this, a network of EV charging infrastructure is needed to provide a good territorial coverage and a diversity of uses.
 
To support this, the French Ministry of Ecological Transition has launched the "100,000 charging stations plan", which aims to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles and the development of the charging infrastructure network in collaboration with local authorities, retailers, freeway companies, hoteliers and restaurant owners.

As part of this plan, Carrefour has decided to equip its hypermarkets with EV charging infrastructure to facilitate the mobility of its customers.

Carrefour selected Meridiam and Allego (owned by Meridiam) to carry out this project. Meridiam and Allego have completed the financial close of the project to deploy more than 200 fast and ultra-fast EV charging stations across France.

The project will be powered entirely by renewable energy and will have a total of 2,000 charging points that will be progressively deployed throughout the Carrefour hypermarket network by 2023.

This project is a further illustration of Meridiam's commitment to serving regions and their inhabitants, having already invested more than €12 billion in France over the past 10 years in clean mobility and ecological transition projects. This partnership reinforces its commitment to building sustainable infrastructure with a positive economic, social and environmental impact.

The new charging stations will meet various customer needs including:
-    A “comfort” charging service that runs at 22 kW, which will be free for the first hour for customers with a Carrefour loyalty card,
-    A fast and ultra-fast charging service ranging from 75 kW to 300 kW, which will allow EV cars to recharge in the short span of 15-45 minutes, 
-    Finally, to encompass the entire spectrum of electric mobility, the stations will also have a free service dedicated to charging light electric vehicles such as e-bicycles, kick e-scooters and electric mopeds.

The total investment for the network development amounts to €138 million. Approximately €55 million of the total will be financed by senior debt from six major European commercial banks.

Societe Generale acted as exclusive financial advisor to Meridiam in connection with a €124 million green loan and also acted as MLA and Hedge Provider on this financing.

Due to the positive environmental impact of the project, the financing was awarded a "Green Loan" label.
This project demonstrates the market's desire to accelerate energy transition and contribute to building a sustainable future.

The Carrefour Group is also studying a second wave of recharging infrastructures to equip Carrefour Market and franchised stores.