Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for Infrastructure what plans are in place to install new charging stations for electric vehicles, particularly rapid chargers, in Mid Ulster.
Minister for Infrastructure: The current electric vehicle public charge point network is owned by the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and is operated on a commercial basis. ESB announced in November 2021 that it had been awarded £3.27 million from the Levelling Up Fund to expand and enhance the EV charging network in the North.
ESB can be contacted directly, regarding what plans are in place to install new charging stations for electric vehicles, particularly rapid chargers, in Mid Ulster, at ecars@esb.ie or enquiries can be sent directly to ESB, Two Gateway, East Wall Road, DUBLIN 3, D03 A995.
The market is also open to other commercial operators who would wish to provide charging infrastructure.
I am pleased that my Department has been able to support the FASTER Project, funded through the INTERREG VA Territorial Co-operation Programme which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The project has received funding to install a total of 73 EV Rapid charging points across the island of Ireland and the West of Scotland by 31 May 2023. My Department will be contributing €513,945 (£455,371) of Match Funding towards the FASTER project. The responsibility for the implementation of the project rests with SEUPB and it has agreed a delivery schedule with the project partners, led by the East Border Region Group Limited (EBR). It is expected that 20-30 of these will be located across the North and EBR is best placed to advise on charge point locations.
Funding opportunities for the installation of charge point infrastructure in GB-NI are provided by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). My Department has made match-funding available of circa £350k, subject to public expenditure processes, from the Department’s Blue Green Fund to assist local councils making an application to the On-street Residential Charge Point Scheme (ORCS). A local council consortium, led by Derry City and Strabane District Council, submitted a joint application to the Energy Saving Trust which manages the fund on behalf of OZEV on 30 March 2022. You may wish to contact your local council to enquire about its application.
My Department has also set up an EV Infrastructure Task-Force which brings together representatives from government, consumers, energy providers, industry and EV drivers to consider our EV Infrastructure requirements and to help set out a clear action plan by autumn 2022 to deliver a fit for purpose, modern EV charging network.
ENDS
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