Profitable in seven to eleven years

Bamberg also exudes confidence about the economic viability of the wickedly expensive charging stations. „We expect them to pay for themselves in seven to eleven years.“ He says the team has already had a hard slog. For the 50 or so charging stations, it had to navigate around enormous bureaucratic and legal reefs.

And thus enjoys a unique selling proposition, which in turn means market power. As a result, Aqua is already exerting a major influence on the industry that is just emerging: DC fast chargers have adopted the so-called Combined Charging System (CCS), the auto industry’s standard plug. Several yards are already adapting to the standard. Aqua builds the chargers at its own expense, and the ports then rent them.

The charging capacity of the charging columns can be increased, so 150-kW chargers are already being installed – which actually puts Aqua on a par with Tesla. The company is also laying the supply lines itself. And where this is not possible, Aqua plans to generate electricity for the boats directly on site from hydrogen in the future.

Pioneering work was done years ago

Bamberg emphasizes that the pioneering work was done years ago. He recalls how Genie-Point built the first charging stations in England. „In 2012, in London, they didn’t even know what a Charger was. This time, we solved the problems much faster.“ In the meantime, he says, there is much more awareness among politicians and in administrations that these steps are simply necessary to achieve clean air. The journey has just begun. But the destination is already clear to all.