DHL said Thursday it plans to quintuple revenue in its New Energy Logistics business, from about €600 million in 2025 to €3 billion by 2030, making it the first major forwarder to put a public number on energy-transition freight.
The buildout: The capacity is already going in. DHL broke ground in May on a 17,000-square-meter battery hub in Holtum, Netherlands, opening in early 2027 to handle high-voltage battery storage, diagnostics, and recycling prep, and it is investing about €160 million in French logistics infrastructure through 2027.
Across the sector: Kuehne+Nagel, DSV, and Maersk all market new-energy practices, but none has attached a revenue target to the business.
The operator angle: This freight strains generalist networks.
Batteries move as dangerous goods, turbine blades run oversized, and one transformer move from Turkey to the Netherlands required a coastal ship, an inland waterway, and cranes rated up to 700 tons after permit delays closed the road route.
A network built in advance for permits, heavy-lift, and hazmat replaces engineering each move from scratch, and trade policy keeps adding routing churn: US duties on Southeast Asian solar cells, in effect since last June at rates reaching 3,500%, have pushed sourcing toward India and US production and rerouted the freight behind it.
What's next: The Holtum hub opens in early 2027, and whether Kuehne+Nagel or DSV answer with targets of their own will show how quickly the segment hardens into a named specialty.
