Northern Ireland’s Public EV Charging Projects – A Summary

Rapid Charging Hub
April 28, 2022

Here’s our summary of the electric vehicle public charging projects for Northern Ireland. We continue to update this page as things develop each month, so please bookmark and check back – LAST UPDATED 05/12/23

ESB

  • Details – ESB say they will replace their entire public charging network in Northern Ireland. They have committed to replacing the existing fast chargers with new chargers at 100 locations, upgrade 20+ sites from 22kW fast AC chargers to 100kW Rapid DC chargers and upgrade the existing 50kW Rapid DC chargers to 100kW where grid capacity is available. They will also open at least 5 new High-Powered (200kW) Charging hubs.
  • Funding – £3.27 million grant from the Levelling Up Fund, with total project funding of £10 million.
  • Time Scale – Originally slated to commencing in Summer 2022, with a completion forecast by “August 2023”. This is unlikely to be achievable now as no work was undertaken in 2022. More details here.
    Update – Latest timescale is completion “by end of 2024”.
    Update 05/10/23 – Approaching 2 year anniversary of announcement but there’s a continuing lack of action

EasyGo

  • Details – Up to 100 DC rapid chargers right across Northern Ireland, along with more fast AC chargers in convenient, comfortable, and safe car parks, hospitality and retail business locations including Lidl supermarkets.
  • Funding – DC chargers privately funded scheme part of €15 million all-island project.
  • Time Scale – Began Summer 2022, completion by mid-2024. More details here
    Update 30/08/23 – EasyGo have won the tender for the 25 DC rapid chargers being installed as part of the Faster Project at these 16 locations

Weev

  • Details – Scheme to add 1,500 “charging points” (a mixture of AC destination and DC rapids) at 350 locations around NI, including 6 ultra-rapid charging hub sites.
  • Funding – Privately funded, £50 million investment.
  • Time Scale – Work began in Summer 2022 with completion forecast by end of 2024 original details here
    Update 30/05/23 – Funding increased from £20m to £50m in new deal with Octopus and plans to focus less on AC and more on DC Rapid and Ultra-Rapid hubs.
    Update 18/07/23 – 6 vehicle rapid charging hub coming near Portstewart
    Update 13/09/23 – Weev have won the tender for the DC rapid chargers being installed as part of the Faster Project in RoI.

FASTER Project

  • Details – Will install 24 Rapid Chargers in Northern Ireland.
  • Funding – The FASTER Project has been funded by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme managed by the Special EU Programme’s Body (SEUPB). DfI contributed €513,945 towards this project which is being run by East Border Region.
  • Time Scale – Officially launched September 2021 – due for completion by December 2023 More details here.
    Update – time lines continue to slip for the Faster Project. Latest update “The final date is 31st December 2023 which the project will require.”
    Update 25/04/23 – EBR say in “relation to connection requirements we have had to scale the double charger installations back to singles and therefore this has resulted in 22 sites.”
    Update 10/03/23 – Hearing from multiple sources the Faster Project is running into more trouble.
    Update 25/03/23 – Original tender withdrawn & reissued with 24 Charge points across 17 sites
    Update 16/08/23 – Tender appears to have been awarded
    Update 30/08/23 – EasyGo confirmed to have won the tender for the 24 DC rapid chargers being installed as part of the Faster Project
    Update 13/09/23 – Weev confirmed to have won the tender for the DC rapid chargers being installed as part of the Faster Project in RoI.
    Update 24/10/23 – Locations for Northern Ireland have been published today
    Update 23/11/23 – 16 Faster Project locations in NI will have restricted opening hours

Council Consortium

  • Details – 124 AC charging sites, located on-street and in car-parks near residential areas without off-street parking (not including Belfast City or Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council areas).
  • Funding – 10 of the 11 councils here joined together to form a consortium. At the end of March 2022, 9 of the 10 members of the consortium applied for funding from the OZEV On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), administered by the Energy Saving Trust. In August 2022 the consortium confirmed it had been successful, with a 75% grant (£1,348,370) from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, plus matched funding from DfI (£500,000).
  • Time Scale – Originally due to commencing Summer 2022, now due to be installed by Summer/Autumn 2023.

Belfast City Council

  • Details – Currently developing an EV Strategy.
  • Funding – Awaiting details.
  • Time Scale – Awaiting details.

Ionity

  • Details – Ionity’s first site in Northern Ireland has been revealed as The Kennedy Centre in Belfast (currently in planning). Plans show as many as 11 Ultra-rapid charging bays. More sites are planned in Northern Ireland.
    Update 28/06/23 – 2 sites confirmed in NI – “Kennedy Centre will open with six 350kW HPC chargers and later extend to 11 chargers, while at the Toome service station there will be 12 HPC chargers from the beginning…..[with] plans to expand both sites to 18 chargers in the future”.
  • Funding – £3 million
  • Time Scale – Awaiting details

InstaVolt

  • Details – InstaVolt’s first site in has been revealed as the McDonalds in Strabane (currently in planning) for 2 Rapid chargers. We look forward to seeing more sites across Northern Ireland.
    Update 27/07/23 – New planning application for rapid in Carrickfergus
  • Funding – Awaiting details
  • Time Scale – Awaiting details
    Update 29/09/23 – InstaVolt has opened their first site in Northern Ireland

Maxol

  • Details – The Maxol Group initially opened a pilot rapid charger at their Townparks Service Station. In December 2022. Maxol then opened their impressive rapid charging hub at Kinnegar in Holywood at the end of 2022 and shortly after added a 150kW charger at their Crumlin Road station in Belfast.
    Update 02/05/23 – Maxol’s Braid River site in Ballymena will the next forecourt in the north to have EV charging installed
  • Funding – This is part of Maxol’s overall retail investment strategy and will complement the significant investment in upgrading shop and food facilities at each location. .
  • Time Scale – The first Rapid charger was installed in Antrim in 2021 – with two other sites completed in quarter 4 2022. Over the next 24 months high speed chargers are planned to be installed at a further 4 sites in Northern Ireland.
    Update 05/12/23 – Maxol have opened another rapid hub at their Braid River Service Station, Ballymena

Tesla

Gridserve

Everun

  • Details – Everun are developing their own 60kW rapid charging network to build upon the 250+ workplace & domestic installations already carried out. The energy group will develop 80+ publicly accessible sites throughout the province and further expansion across all of Ireland, as well as workplace options for employers.
  • Funding – Privately funded
  • Time Scale – Started 2021, ongoing.

TESCO

  • Details – Tesco are partnering with Pod Point and Volkswagen to roll out charging bays in their Extra and Superstore car parks throughout the UK. 7kW and 22kW AC chargers are free to use with payment required for 50kW rapids where available. Here is the list of sites.
  • Funding – Private?
  • Time Scale – Tesco aim to install points in up to 10 stores around Northern Ireland in 2022.

SSE Energy Solutions

  • Details – At least 30 x 150kW ultra-rapid charging hubs over both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, all of which will be powered by 100% green electricity.
  • Funding – €35m (£30.1m)
  • Time Scale – 4 year project starting in 2023
    Update 18/10/23 – What could be the first SSE site has shown up in planning for Newtownards

Innovative Power Generation (IPG)

  • Details – Plans for multiple sites with 20+ x 350 kW DC Rapid chargers in off grid GROW TO GO centres across Northern Ireland and beyond.
  • Funding – Private
  • Time Scale – First centre in Coleraine scheduled to open around Q2 2023

Shared Island Sports Club EV Charging Scheme

  • Details – A scheme to install a DC rapid and an AC destination charger at sports clubs across Ireland. For more information visit gov.ie
  • Funding – €15 million all-island scheme, funded by the Irish Government.
  • Time Scale – Applications opened on 30th January 2023.

Nicholl Oils

  • Details – Plans for over 100 charge points across the country by installing at least one rapid charger and one AC fast charging point throughout the Nicholl network of branded forecourts.
  • Funding – An investment of “up to £2.6million”
  • Time Scale – The first 46 charging points will be installed between April and September 2023 beginning with forecourts in County Antrim and County Down (list of first sites).

Fastned

  • Details – Fastned’s 2022 Annual Report states it will “accelerate its construction programme” in the UK and the accompanying map shows 2 rapid charging hubs locations for Northern Ireland.
  • Funding – Private
  • Time Scale – Both locations are shown as “Planned 2023”

BP Pulse

  • Details – BP Pulse have linked up with the Henderson Group (Eurospar) and have so far rolled out new DC rapid chargers at 15 filling stations here. These dual sides 150 kW CCS only units include a 200 kWh battery. We are awaiting further details of their plans, but with close to 100 locations here, they look set to provide coverage across much of NI.
  • Funding – Private
  • Time Scale – Awaiting details

RAW Charging / National Trust

  • Details – RAW Charging announced in April 2023 that they have a contract with the National Trust to install electric vehicle charging (mostly AC) at “up to 280 sites” for visitors to the Trust’s locations across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
  • Funding – RAW will invest “up to £12 million”
  • Time Scale – “over the next three years“

Be.EV

  • Details – Currently “developing sites” in Northern Ireland
  • Funding – Awaiting details
  • Time Scale – Awaiting details

BT Group

  • Details – BT to use up to 60,000 of their on-street DSLAM cabinets across the UK into double sided EV chargers (7kW to 22kW AC). 3 NI council areas chosen for the first pilot starting in the Autumn of 2023.
  • Funding – BT + Public?
  • Time Scale – 2 Years from Autumn 2023.

Allego

  • Details – Allego say they will “open new ultra-fast EV charging hubs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland later this year.”
  • Funding – Awaiting details
  • Time Scale – Starting 2023

Others

If you are one of the other organisations planning to invest in EV charging infrastructure in Northern Ireland then please get in touch to have your project added here.

The Future

It is wonderful to see multiple public charging schemes now coming to Northern Ireland.

The Climate Change Act ensures that the Department for Infrastructure must plan for the future and “develop and publish Sectoral Plans for the Infrastructure sector setting out how the sector will contribute to the achievement of the targets“. The research the Department commissioned and published last December finds that around 1,000 rapid chargers are required here by 2025 and we very much look forward to seeing DfI now moving to the implementation stage.

We also urge DfI, DfE, the Utility Regulator and the DNO to work hard together to solve the issues around grid capacity, connection pricing and network planning. We must ease the path for all Charge Point Operators investing in Northern Ireland.

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