The UK Government is seeking views on proposals for a scheme to address high electricity network upgrade costs at motorway service areas (MSAs) in England.
It is making the move due to what it describes as a “minority of MSAs at which the cost of grid capacity to meet demand is still not commercially viable”.
The government added that “these high costs at some sites are the principal barrier to achieving a comprehensive network of EV charging across the motorway network”.
The UK Government said:
“The scheme will support the development of a strong open-access EV charging offer across the motorway network by removing electricity upgrade costs as a barrier to EV charging provision at a subset of impacted MSAs in England.
“Government will do this by strengthening electricity networks to selected MSAs where costs are uncommercial. The resulting network capacity will then be available to industry at a subsidised, commercially viable price.”
The news follows the closure of The Rapid Charging Fund (RCF), which was announced in 2020 by the previous government, and which sought to support the delivery of EV charging by part-funding electricity network upgrades where costs were not commercially viable for industry.
This new scheme aims to address some of the challenges that were brought forward from that pilot, the government said.
It will ensure that by 2030, any MSAs where government intervenes “will have enough electricity network capacity to meet projected EV driver demand until at least 2035 and that this capacity will be available to industry at an affordable price”.
You can read the full consultation document here.
Image courtesy of Green Car Guide
