High speed electric boat charging set to expand with partnership of experts

Network operator Aqua superPower and EV charger manufacturer Hellonext have announced a strategic and synergistic alliance that will accelerate the growth of high speed electric boat charging throughout Europe and beyond.

Aqua superPower already manages the operations of 50+ high speed DC chargers in Sweden, France, Portugal, Spain, Monaco Italy, the UK and US. That includes charging corridors along the Mediterranean’s French/Italian Riviera and England’s South Coast.

Hellonext, internationally recognized for its advanced DC technology, manufactures a range of 10 commercial and residential EV chargers and battery energy storage systems. It has multiple DC marine installations already operating in Spain.

The partnership combines Hellonext’s best-in-class charging hardware with Aqua superPower’s fully integrated digital operating ecosystem designed specifically for marine use. It also reflects the companies’ shared enthusiasm for and commitment to accelerating a European and global transition to electric marine transportation.

The world of electric charging – both for land and water transport – is a bit of an alphabet soup of initials that needs some explanation, so bear with me.

What we call a charger, or a charging station, is known in the industry as a Charge Point, so the company that operates a charge point (or a bunch of them) is called a CPO – Charge Point Operator.

Each charge point requires a system to manage the energy going in an out, which involves the handling of both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) electricity in various voltages, from low to extremely high. That system is called the Charge Point Management System (CPMS).

Most people don’t use the same charge point all the time for their EVehicle or EBoat, so they usually rely on the services of a company that makes things more convenient and streamlined, particularly for payment and reporting on things like how much electricity was transferred at what time. The company that enables and manages those kinds of interactions is called an eMobility Service Provider – EMSP.

In the background, the EMSP coordinates with the CPMS (which coordinates with the CPO), your credit card company and maybe other things – like your vehicle or boat – using a Subscriber Identification Module – SIM, like the SIM card on your phone. That assures that every part of the system knows it is you that is using the services. Part of what the EMSP has to do, of course, is make sure that everything can be connected wirelessly and securely from places like marinas and ports. In some cases it may even monitor the state of charge in your electric boat while it’s out on the water.

Aqua superPower is a combination of all those things: CPO, CPMS and EMSP. In fact, being all of those things is what makes them attractive to places like marinas and ports. The marina or port only needs to be a location for the charge point. Aqua oversees the installation and coordination with the charge point manufacturer, electric grid and utilities, then manages all of the electricity interactions along with the payment to the utilities and collecting the payment from the end user. Aqua also manages all repairs and maintenance. The marina or port (which does not want to be concerned with any of that!) simply gets a percentage of the revenue.

The only thing Aqua doesn’t do is manufacturer the actual charge points, which is where Hellonext comes in. Hellonext has already proven in Spain that they can design and build the hardware necessary to charge things that move on the water. And Aqua’s international network, with charge points from other manufacturers located everywhere from bustling seaports to remote lakeside marinas, has proven that their system can manage the rest, with its global network consistently achieving over 98% uptime.

Going forward, Hellonext’s advanced AC and DC charging systems will be seamlessly integrated into Aqua superPower’s backend platform. Aqua will manage end-to-end operations, including remote monitoring, dynamic load balancing, billing, roaming, maintenance coordination, and 24/7 customer support.

 

One other benefit Aqua superPower brings to the party is the other end of the wire – the hardware and software that goes in the boats themselves. Connectors and systems for electric boats are all compatible with every level of standard EV charging, but there are things that need to be addressed to optimize them and make them safe and trouble-free for marine use. Aqua is already working with and trusted by dozens of electric boat and motor manufacturers as well as combustion boat manufacturers looking at electric possibilities.

Hellonext, for their part, is a division of the Petrotec group, which started 40 years ago building fossil fuel filling stations and has more than 200,000 installations operating in 100+ countries. No matter what you may think of fossil fuels, that depth of experience and breadth of distribution is important for success of the world’s overall transition to electric energy.

Getting distribution and critical mass of charge points is essential to growing electric boating, just as it was in the beginning years of EVs (and still is in some countries). The collaboration and combination of Aqua superPower and Hellonext’s experiences and resources can immediately ‘jump start’ that infrastructure-building process by making it even easier and simpler for waterside destinations to go electric.

Aqua superPower website  Hellonext website

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