Invest-NL funds European charging infrastructure for electric heavy-duty transport by Milence

Invest-NL funds € 25 million within a € 120 million loan to Milence, a rapidly growing Dutch company developing a pan-European charging network for electric heavy-duty transport. This funding is essential to enable large-scale electric heavy-duty transport.

The lack of good charging infrastructure hampers the transition to electric heavy-duty transport. Milence responds to this by building a European network of fast-charging hubs for electric trucks. The company, a joint venture between Daimler Truck, TRATON GROUP and Volvo Group, operates 34 hubs across eight European countries, enabling electric road transport along key corridors, with plans to expand to hundreds of strategically located sites along these routes.

Enabling complex financing

While meaningful progress has been made, the charging infrastructure for electric heavy-duty transport in Europe is still in an early stage and involves high investment costs. This creates uncertainties; especially in such situations, Invest-NL plays an important role by supporting projects that are essential for the energy transition but are difficult to get off the ground without additional financing.

“In exactly these capital-intensive sectors, which are in an early stage of development, we see that the financing market remains cautious.”
Bastiaan Gielink
sr. investment manager

Invest-NL, together with, among others, Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management and Invest International, participates in the €120 million loan. This financing is supported by the European Union through the InvestEU-fund.

Accelerating emission-free transport

By financing charging infrastructure, the shift to electric driving is made possible for transport companies. This accelerates the transition of a sector with a disproportionately large climate impact: heavy-duty transport is responsible for more than 25% of road transport emissions in the EU, while it makes up only about 2% of the total EU vehicle fleet.

Invest-NL as a partner for complex financing

This financing underscores the role of Invest-NL Structured Finance & Corporate Investments in enabling complex and capital-intensive projects that contribute to societal transitions. Through flexible structuring, targeted risk management, and collaboration with partners, investments become feasible. This contributes to the progress of projects that are essential for a more sustainable and future-proof Netherlands and Europe.

As an implementation partner of InvestEU in the Netherlands, Invest-NL can invest more and take on higher risks, mobilizing European capital and further accelerating the transition to a sustainable economy.