Powerdot plans €70 million investment in Portugal and €40 million in Spain

After cumulative investment of €74 million, Powerdot ended last year with what it described as a “record expansion” of its electric vehicle charging network in Europe. The Portuguese company now has more than 11,500 charging points across Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Poland, and intends to sustain that pace of growth.

“Between 2026 and 2030, we expect to invest €70 million in Portugal and €40 million in Spain,” Powerdot co-founder and CEO Luís Santiago Pinto told Expresso.

Since the beginning of the year, and during the first half of 2026, the company has installed more than 1200 additional charging points across the markets in which it operates. Its European network has consequently exceeded 12,500 charging points at more than 2400 locations in six European countries.

Powerdot’s European electric vehicle charging network

Over the course of last year, Powerdot added 2500 charging points. Its locations are selected in line with a “destination charging” strategy, focusing on places where people live, work, shop or travel to, including hotel chains.

In Portugal, Powerdot finished last year with around 550 active locations and more than 2000 charging points. During the year, it added over 40 new locations and approximately 350 further charging points.

“So far, the outlook for 2026 has been very positive. Electric vehicle sales are continuing to set records in several of the markets where we operate, and this is still driving demand for charging infrastructure. According to BloombergNEF, we are currently Europe’s third-largest charging operator. We remain focused on delivering our plan throughout this year,” the executive added.

After years centred on organic growth, Powerdot is now looking to place greater emphasis on acquisitions.

In that context, the company has just announced the purchase of the Iberian operation of British company Instavolt. Powerdot described the deal as the “first major move of this kind in the market and a significant milestone in its growth strategy”. Through the transaction, it has added a total of 200 rapid and ultra-rapid charging points to its Iberian network, 159 of which are still under development.

“With this acquisition, we now have more than 4300 charging points on the Iberian Peninsula, while continuing to actively pursue new opportunities for organic growth in Portugal and Spain, two of our most important markets. Our plan has always been to grow organically. Acquisitions offer an additional opportunity to accelerate that growth, but they complement our strategy rather than replacing it,” Luís Santiago Pinto assured Expresso.

When asked whether the company was considering further acquisitions, he said it was “watching opportunities in all the markets” in which it operates.

The Instavolt deal completed in five weeks

Discussing the Instavolt purchase, Santiago Pinto said it resulted from a “combination of opportunity and a desire to continue investing in the market”.

“It is the UK’s largest charging operator, and we share a very similar vision for the future of the electric mobility market. The network it has developed in Portugal and Spain is of high quality, with locations that are highly relevant to our business model and users. When we realised this opportunity could materialise, we began work immediately and managed to complete the transaction in just five weeks,” he said.

According to the CEO, the acquisition makes it possible to “strengthen our presence in two of our key markets by integrating infrastructure spread across 49 locations, including cities such as Lisbon, Leiria, Setúbal, Madrid and Barcelona”. The assets are located at commercial sites linked to brands including McDonald’s, Mercadona, Carrefour, Ikea, Aldi and Lidl.

“We have built a strong platform through organic growth, expanded across several markets and secured more than €465 million in financial support for growth,” said Luís Santiago Pinto, CEO of Powerdot. “As the European electric vehicle charging sector matures, consolidation is expected to play an increasingly important role. This acquisition is a first step in that direction and reflects Powerdot’s ambition to play an active role in the future consolidation of charging infrastructure across Europe.”

Integrating Instavolt’s Iberian charging infrastructure

Once the Instavolt acquisition has been completed, all of the British operator’s locations will be incorporated into Powerdot’s technology platform and managed by the company.

Regarding the two growth models - organic expansion and acquisitions - Luís Santiago Pinto said that “they are very different and bring different challenges: in the first, we develop the entire infrastructure from the ground up, precisely to our specifications; in an acquisition, we inherit a network developed by third parties, and the whole technology and operational integration process is considerably more complex”.

In the executive’s view, “this transaction shows that Powerdot is comfortable and ready to grow through both models”.

“We have demonstrated that we possess the experience, technology and team required to integrate infrastructure developed by third parties efficiently. We will use that learning to remain alert to future acquisition opportunities that make sense for our strategy,” he concluded.