A new £7.5m (€8.27m) strategic partnership aims to increase the number of Scottish electric vehicle charging networks.
Members of the public-private sector partnership, which aims to address the infrastructure needs of the growing Scottish electric vehicle (EV) charging networks, include Scotland’s national transport agency Transport Scotland and energy providers SP Energy Networks and Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN). Colin Nicol, Managing Director of SSEN, said: “Government and industry have a shared determination to deliver net zero [emissions] and it’s only by working together that we’ll realise this goal. When it comes to Scotland’s low carbon ambitions, no community should be left behind, and this partnership is exactly the joined-up approach needed to deliver investment in key EV infrastructure for our towns, cities and rural areas.”
SSEN intends to investigate the impact of growing numbers of people travelling to the North of Scotland in EVs on existing Scottish electric vehicle charging capabilities; while SP Energy Networks will provide additional publicly accessible EV chargepoints across the centre and South of Scotland.
SP Energy Networks CEO Frank Mitchell said: “As Scotland drives towards net zero emissions, decarbonising transport will be essential. This groundbreaking pilot project will support the shift to electric vehicles we need to make sure that every community has equal access to charging points which are connected into Scotland’s electricity networks. This strategic partnership will allow us to efficiently join the dots between renewable electricity generation, the distribution network, and public electric vehicle charging infrastructure, to make sure all drivers across Scotland have equal access to our electric future.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “This partnership highlights the critical role that electricity networks have to play in delivering a zero carbon energy system, and in facilitating an electric vehicle revolution and the provision of clean energy for transport. This project will develop a new model for delivering both EV charging and electricity network infrastructure which can more effectively satisfy Scotland’s ambitions, including delivering inclusive universal access to the benefits of the decarbonisation of transport. We have invested over £30m [€33.09m] since 2011 to establish one of the most comprehensive electric vehicle charging networks in Europe. There are now over 1,000 points across the country as part of our commitment to help people make the move to low and zero carbon vehicles.”
