ComfortDelGro partners French energy firm Engie to bid for EV charging tenders

TRANSPORT operator ComfortDelGro has partnered French energy company Engie to jointly bid for electric vehicle (EV) charging tenders, as well as to explore and deploy clean energy solutions, the firms said in a joint release on Wednesday.

For a start, the two parties have jointly submitted a bid for a pilot tender, called by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Land Transportation Authority (LTA), for the installation and operation of more than 600 EV charging points at over 200 public car parks in Singapore.

The locations include public housing estates, industrial estates, public parks, and community centres. Successful tenderers will have to install charging stations at their allotted car parks by the third quarter of 2022.

Separately, ComfortDelGro and Engie will also build charging farms, powered by renewable energy, on ComfortDelGro premises. These will offer fast-charging solutions to its cabbies and public users.

ComfortDelGro managing director and group chief executive officer Yang Ban Seng said that sustainability is a key pillar that the firm intends to build on, adding: "Our partnership with Engie is another step in that direction as we hope to offer our expertise in the areas of EV charging and drive the adoption of clean energy solutions in the local transport industry."

ComfortDelGro recently announced that it is committing S$50 million over five years to clean energy technology and research, including a move towards a clean-energy fleet, improving energy efficiency, adopting renewables, and driving innovation.

Said Engie South-east Asia CEO Thomas Baudlot: "As an end-to-end provider of low carbon solutions with a demonstrated track record of having operated 200,000 EV chargers globally, Engie is in prime position to supply affordable green energy to future EV drivers."