Growth and community: Building Alfen’s 40-year legacy in Almere
Almere, 13 December – Alfen is excited to mark 40 years in Almere in 2023! What started out as a simple move from Hilversum to a bigger space in Almere has transformed into a strong bond with the local community. This connection is built on shared values and meaningful contributions. Let’s reflect on 4 decades of growth as we transitioned from a local transformer substation developer to a leading European energy specialist with 1200 colleagues and solutions installed in 30+ countries. What’s even more intriguing is that Almere itself was founded in 1975 and officially became a municipality in 1984 – one year after we moved!
“Alfen has deep roots in Almere, where we’ve proudly grown steadily and sustainably for 40 years,” says Marco Roeleveld, CEO of Alfen for 26 years. “Starting with one location at the Hefbrugweg in 1983, we’ve since grown into a major player in Europe with a diverse international team serving customers across Europe from Spain and the Nordics to Italy and the UK. Over the last four decades, we’ve grown incredibly —not just in our products, offices and production but more importantly in talented people.”
He adds: “We’ve consistently improved our production capabilities to adapt to the changing markets we serve. In 1983 we were experts in transformer substations and we expanded to develop EV charging stations in 2008 and energy storage systems in 2011. Throughout this growth, we’ve broadened our knowledge, added expertise and expanded our capabilities to help Europe on its journey to limit climate change.”
Alfen’s role in the Almere community
Since we moved our headquarters to Almere, Alfen has become known in the community as a key employer and a popular place for people who like to work with their hands as much as with their brains to create technical solutions to enable the electricity grid of the future.
And when we sensed the shortage of technically skilled personnel, including mechanical and electrical engineers in the Netherlands, we actively did something about it: we created the Alfen Academy in 2008. By equipping motivated men and women with the necessary tools, we’ve become one of the area’s largest employers and a platform for personal and professional development. We’ve awarded 200+ diplomas to technical specialists in electrical engineering.
Our ties to Almere don’t stop there. Our 5 year partnership with Almere City FC links us to the sports community. It’s more than a simple sponsorship: at each home game we invite customers to use our business seats plus we offer tickets to 20 employees, allowing our people to enjoy a night out and connect with colleagues from different departments. And the vibrant LED displays that advertise our products and local job offerings really makes Alfen stand out in the stadium and on TV.
Our growth is staggering
Over the last 40 years, the industrial area of Almere has turned Alfen-blue as we’ve grown quite big with 800+ full-time employees. If we account for all contractors, interns and trainees, our current workforce exceeds 1200 people from more than 40 nationalities. Quite a significant jump from the initial 50 (!) in 1983. And in a zone of just a couple of square kilometers, we now have our headquarters, 3 production facilities for EV charging stations, energy storage systems and transformer substations, the Alfen Academy, offices for all of our Dutch colleagues and even temporary offices.
And we continue to build … we acquired a new building in Almere at Damsluisweg 70, and we’re constructing a big new facility next to our EV charging production site. This new space will give us the capacity to significantly increase production for our transformer substations, expand capacity for our energy storage systems and house some 300 colleagues in new offices.
“Alfen is a very important business partner for the city of Almere,” says mayor of Almere Hein van der Loo. He continues: ”Alfen's growth potential perfectly suits the ambition of Almere to strongly develop its position in the Tech-industry. I truly value the high level of employee engagement at Alfen and the company's serious people development efforts.”
We continue to reach milestones
We continue to reach milestones: from celebrating 5 years on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange and 15 years of innovation in EV charging equipment to launching new solutions such as our new prefab transformer substation called Altro and the TheBattery Mobile X.
Almere is our home, initially chosen for its space and opportunities for growth. But our bond today with the community is stronger than we could have ever imagined: we’re proud to share common goals: driving innovation, building a greener future and promoting local employment.
Looking ahead to the next 40 years, Alfen remains committed to innovation and growth, both locally and globally, always striving to deliver the best for our customers and the world around us. Here’s to 40 more years of partnership, progress, and community.
