GCT Maximizes Charging Throughput and Uptime with the Ampcontrol Platform

‍The Challenge: Short Charging Windows, More Plugs Than Power, and Zero Tolerance for Downtime

Electrifying a port fleet at this scale concentrates charging into narrow windows. Vehicles return to the charging areas during brief operational breaks — shift changes and lunch periods — and every vehicle needs to leave with enough energy to finish its next cycle. Within those windows, vehicles arrive at very different states of charge: some need a large top-up, others barely any. 

At the same time, GCT wants to add more charging heads than its substations can power simultaneously at full output, so any returning vehicle can always find an open plug. Left uncontrolled, that oversubscription would push a substation past its limit the moment too many vehicles charge unmanaged at once.

Finally, charging operations must be resilient and reliable. A network outage or a cybersecurity event must not interrupt charging operations or breach a substation limit. GCT needed charge and load management to keep running locally, on-site, under all conditions.

The site also runs a mixed hardware stack: Autel and ABB AC chargers alongside high-power Kempower DC satellites. Orchestrating priority and capacity across vendor systems demanded a vendor-agnostic platform to simultaneously monitor and optimize charging operations.

The Solution: AmpEdge Energy Management

GCT deployed the Ampcontrol Cloud together with on-site AmpEdge controllers. The platform integrates energy meters and chargers across the port, then manages power draw against a strict site-wide power cap (kW) that can never be exceeded.

Increase power without grid upgrades. Because AmpEdge controls power in real time, GCT can install more charging heads than its substations could power at full draw simultaneously. More plugs mean any returning vehicle can connect immediately, while AmpEdge shares the fixed power constraint intelligently across active sessions. 

Resilient local control. The control logic runs locally on AmpEdge, so site limits and charging priorities stay enforced even during a loss of cloud connectivity, a network outage, or a cybersecurity event. The fleet keeps charging, the substation caps hold, and no operational window is lost. When the connection returns, data resyncs to the cloud — keeping operations safe and resilient offline.

Dynamic, need-based charging in every window. AmpEdge and Ampcontrol Cloud read each vehicle's state of charge and continuously reallocates available power toward the vehicles. Instead of spreading power evenly, the platform concentrates it where it matters — so the fleet leaves each lunch or shift break with the energy it needs, without exceeding the site cap.

Central Monitoring and Alerts. AmpEdge aggregates performance data from charger vendors, giving operations teams continuous visibility into live charger status, active session metrics, and vehicle state-of-charge across sites — covering over 600 charging sessions per month. Automated alerts flag any issue the moment it occurs, so operators can resolve problems quickly without manually checking each charger.

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Results

• More charging heads deployed than raw substation capacity supports, so vehicles can always plug in — with the site cap never exceeded
• Grid upgrades avoided by maximizing existing substation capacity
• Maximized charger uptime during cloud downtime, network outages, or cybersecurity events
• Dynamic power allocation delivers energy to the vehicles with lowest battery SoC