Ireland to get ultra-rapid charging hubs by SSE

Irish utility SSE Airtricity is investing €35 mn in installing 30 high-power charging hubs across Ireland over the next four years. Parent company SSE, a British energy group, plans 300 such hubs in the UK and Ireland by 2027. (UPDATE BELOW)

In Ireland, SSE Airtricity expects six sites to go online under the project’s first phase running through 2023, with a further ten opening in 2024. Each ultra-rapid bay will have charging capabilities of up to 150 kilowatts, sufficient to deliver 12.5 km of range per minute of charging, so SSE.

The company confirmed that next year, the first hub would open at the Lough Sheever Corporate Park in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. The site will be publicly accessible and designed to accommodate long-wheelbase vehicles, buses, cars and fleet vehicles.

“In building out this infrastructure, we want to ensure peace of mind for all EV drivers – domestic, car fleet, commercial – that when they show up at one of our facilities, they can plug into a working, high-power charger as soon as they arrive, and that they can be back on the move within the shortest amount of time possible,” said Kevin Welstead, EV Director Sector SSE.

Subject to planning permission, SSE Airtricity will install additional hubs with ten charging bays in Blanchardstown Business Park and Greenogue Industrial Estate in Dublin.

Once completed, all 30 Irish charging hubs will be powered by 100% green electricity.

Klair Neenan, Managing Director of SSE Airtricity, said the company had a “long-standing commitment of delivering green energy and green energy solutions”. She added the new investment, and with COP27 underway in Egypt, they were to “renew our commitment to supporting Ireland’s climate change targets and support the Government’s Climate Action Plan and EV transport targets.”

A 2021 study by the UK’s Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology found that Ireland ranked joint-last in implementing charging infrastructure. At the same time, the Government’s 2021 Climate Action Plan has set a target of one million EVs on the roads by 2030, including private cars, and heavier and larger electric vehicles.

SSE Energy Solutions has reportedly committed to installing 300 ultra-rapid charging hubs. The first hub, on Castlebank Street in Glasgow, went live at the end of September.

In addition to announcing this nationwide infrastructure across Ireland, the company has also completed a deal with a pan-European portfolio company, M7 Real Estate, to install charging hubs at the 20 locations the company manages in the United Kingdom.

SSE has been a member of the EV100 initiative since 2019, as reported.

Update 23 August 2024

SSE has opened its first electric car charging hub in Ireland. The new hub is located in Lough Sheever Corporate Park in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. It’s the first in a planned series of 300 ultra-rapid EV charging hubs that SSE will roll out across the UK and Ireland. The Lough Sheever charging hub has ten individual charging bays, with chargers capable of delivering up to 150kW each.

energymanagementmag.co.uk, rte.ie, completecar.ie, sseenergysolutions.co.uk (last two update)