Polish energy company ORLEN announced on Wednesday (24 April) that the ORLEN VC fund has invested in Polish EV startup EUROLOOP, a producer of ultra-fast electric vehicle charging stations.
The chargers from the Polish startup, which are already used in seven European countries, are among the fastest on the market. They provide access to direct current with power up to 720 kilowatts (kW), ORLEN noted in a press release.
“According to the updated ORLEN Group Strategy, 10,000 electric car charging points are to be created in Central Europe by 2030. This is a big challenge in terms of building infrastructure and ensuring location, but also choosing a technology supplier that will meet the increasingly higher customer expectations. We are convinced that the priorities of the EUROLOOP founders, i.e. high efficiency, power and flexibility of chargers and lower operating costs, perfectly meet the needs of the ORLEN Group,” said Marek Garniewski, President of the Management Board of ORLEN VC. “The fund finalised the transaction in December 2023, maintaining high investment activity and once again showing how to effectively combine investments in modern technologies with the search for potential synergies.”
By utilising silicon carbide technology, EUROLOOP’s charging stations achieve 97 per cent efficiency in the process of converting alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). The company also uses dynamic power-sharing technology (S-Hub product version) between two connected charging stations. Both functionalities significantly impact the reduction of charging station maintenance costs, ORLEN said in a press release.
With the connected system, two chargers operate as one, sharing power between them and adjusting it according to demand. This allows for the charging of up to eight vehicles simultaneously, with dynamic management of module loads and charging speeds.
EUROLOOP sells chargers under the WILLBERT brand in Western Europe, which will now be available in Poland as part of the collaboration with ORLEN VC.
