Meeting the new GEIG rules on a supermarket car park
Which parking spaces get a charging point, pre-cabling or conduit, so that the store meets the GEIG from 1 January 2027 at the lowest cost and stays within its grid connection?
Drag to rotate, scroll or pinch to zoom. The schedule below plays the plan; hover a bar for details. Plan computed with a Timefold model.
The planning question
A fictional supermarket has 90 parking spaces: 4 accessible and 4 family spaces near the entrance, 10 staff spaces behind the store. The main distribution board is in the technical room. The grid connection is 250 kVA, and the store itself peaks at about 150 kW for cooling, lighting, ventilation and the bakery ovens.
What applies from 1 January 2027: the amended GEIG (German act on charging infrastructure in buildings) covers existing non-residential buildings with more than 20 parking spaces. The owner chooses one of two options. Option A: one charging point for every 10 spaces, here 9. Option B: conduit, meaning ducts and cable routes ready for later charging points, at half of the spaces, counted separately for accessible and other spaces, here 2 of 4 and 43 of 86. New buildings and major renovations have stricter rules. Projects with a building application filed by 31 December 2026 stay under the old rules.
Source: ElektroMobilität NRW, 31 July 2026, on the law of 23 July 2026. The law text applies. This page is not legal advice.
How we plan it
The Timefold model chooses the equipment of every space and the load-management target. For every change it computes the trench network along the rows and the cost per metre of trench, conduit and cable, and it plays one Saturday: about 800 car visits, 33 customers and 3 staff who want to charge, each with a parking time, an energy need and a walking limit. Short visits only use a fast charger. The load management shares the capacity the store leaves free every 5 minutes.
The comparison is the electrician’s first quote, computed with the same code: 9 wallboxes of 11 kW in one row at the cheapest trench, with a fixed power limit. Prices, charging demand and the later expansion are assumptions.
What the plan shows
| KPI | Optimized plan | Comparison: electrician's first quote |
|---|---|---|
| investment | 123,717 € +82,726 | 40,991 € |
| charging points | 3 −6 | 9 |
| pre-cabled spaces | 15 +15 | 0 |
| spaces with conduit only | 27 +27 | 0 |
| customers who could charge | 25 / 33 +6 | 19 / 33 |
| charging revenue per Saturday | 280 € +235 | 45 € |
| net cost over 8 years | 17,648 € −45,355 | 63,003 € |
Decisions
- per space: nothing, conduit, pre-cabling or a charging point (AC 11 kW, AC 22 kW, DC 50 kW)
- the trench route from the main distribution board (a shared trench is paid once)
- the target for the grid import under load management
Constraints
- GEIG for an existing building: option A or option B
- store load plus charging within the 250 kVA connection
- load-managed charging points (a design choice of the model, not a legal requirement)
- one charging point on an accessible space near the entrance (owner requirement)
Objective
lowest net cost over 8 years: investment, maintenance, demand charge and the expected later expansion to 18 charging points, minus the charging margin and a value for every driver who could charge
Questions
Is this legal advice?
No. The rules are summarised from ElektroMobilität NRW (31 July 2026). The law text applies, and each site needs its own check, for example how spaces are counted and which deadline applies.
Why does the plan choose conduit instead of nine charging points?
Conduit at half of the spaces is also compliant. With the expected later expansion, preparing cable routes now costs less than digging twice. With other prices or more electric cars the model chooses option A.
Does every charging point have to be load-managed?
The summary we use does not say so. The model uses load management as a design choice: it keeps the store within its connection and limits the demand charge.
What applies to new buildings and major renovations?
Stricter rules: pre-cabling at half of the spaces, conduit at all others and one charging point per 5 spaces. The same model can plan for this rule.
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