UK invests £300 million in charging points

UK energy regulator Ofgem approved a £300 million investment (around 348 million euros) for over 200 low carbon projects to get Britain ready for more electric transport. This will see the instalment of 3550 EV chargers across the UK as part of a £40 billion investment in greener energy.

Motorway service areas and key trunk road locations in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are set to get the cabling they need to install 1,800 new ultra-rapid charge points, tripling the current network. A further 1,750 charge points will be supported in towns and cities.

The chargers will be delivered within the next two years by a joint initiative between Ofgem and electricity distribution companies. The upgrade directed by Ofgem will utilise investment from the Energy Networks Association (ENA), which represents the UK and Ireland’s energy networks businesses.

Ofgem said the upgrade addresses the fact that Britain’s cables, substations and other infrastructure “need a massive upgrade” to cope with an expanded surge in demand. Under the scheme, cities including Glasgow, Kirkwall, Llandudno, Truro, Warrington and York will benefit from increased network capacity to support more HPC and increased electricity generation under the scheme.

Ofgem has said that in collaboration with network operators it will also help install more chargers in traditionally underserved rural locations, such as railway stations in north and mid-Wales.

Charging infrastructure has been identified as one of the larger hurdles to the uptake of electric vehicles in the UK. According to a poll cited by The Guardian newspaper,   78% of UK drivers think charging infrastructure is inadequate, compared with 65% in other European countries.

leaderlive.co.uk, autocar.co.uk, theguardian.com, ofgem.gov.uk