I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 to 101, inclusive, together.
Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle charging network over the coming years.
We have committed €10 million from the Climate Action Fund (CAF) to promote the charging network and this has leveraged a further €10 million investment from ESB. This intervention alone will result in:
- 90 additional high power chargers, each capable of charging two vehicles
- 52 additional fast chargers, which may replace existing standard chargers
- 264 replacement standard chargers with more modern technology and with each consisting of two charge points
Since the delivery stage of the project commenced in October 2019, five 150kW High Power Chargers have been installed at Galway Plaza (M6), Kilcullen (M9), Park Rí (M3), Kells, and Portlaoise Plaza (M7/8). These locations now have a 50kW charger in addition to the 150kW Charger and can charge three cars simultaneously. All of these locations are new sites. Preliminary works are underway for similar capacity at several other locations throughout the country.
To date, the CAF project has also seen the replacement of 14 AC Standard Chargers with 50kW DC chargers throughout the country. These will provide Fast Charging facilities where there was none previously. Depending on the specific site, these chargers can provide up to 50kW DC power or up to 22kW AC power. Since the beginning of the project upgrades to charging infrastructure have also been carried out at the following locations: Ballina, Cavan, Clifden, Clonmel, Drogheda, Dublin Port, Dundalk, Galway, Kells, Kilkenny, Sligo, Tullamore, Waterford and Westport. More upgrades are planned in the coming months, including in Cork, Kenmare, Tralee and Waterford.
Further details on the ESB project can be found at https://www.esb.ie/ecars/our-network/network-upgrades
While several private operators such as Tesla, Ionity & EasyGO are involved in providing charging infrastructure, my Department does not hold information on the location of charging infrastructure which has been installed without government support. I am aware, however, that ESB has partnered with Tesco Ireland to install 22kW Standard AC Chargers at 33 Tesco locations around the country in the last number of months. More than 50 of these are planned in total. My Department is also making €2 million available next year through the SEAI to support the installation of destination charge points in locations such as hotels and shopping centres. This new initiative will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging.
In terms of maintenance, ESB ecars employ a Charge Point Management System to monitor the performance of its charger network. This IT system provides real time overview of the performance of the network, usage and can allow certain tasks to be carried out remotely in the event of an issue arising. The performance of the network is monitored by a specialist Operations Team. In addition, ESB ecars Maintenance Contractors carry out a number of proactive maintenance visits to each charger on an annual basis. Customers can also avail of a 24/7 customer call centre should they have any issue and can report an issue with a charger through the ESB ecar app “ecar connect”.
The below table is a list of ESB charge points per county including the newly installed Tesco charge points;
|
County
|
Standard Charge Points (up to 22kW)
|
Fast Chargers (c. 50kW)
|
High Powered Chargers (150 kW)
|
|
Donegal
|
30
|
3
|
|
|
Sligo
|
14
|
3
|
|
|
Leitrim
|
4
|
0
|
|
|
Mayo
|
18
|
4
|
|
|
Westmeath
|
22
|
3
|
|
|
Roscommon
|
22
|
2
|
|
|
Galway
|
30
|
7
|
1
|
|
Monaghan
|
12
|
1
|
|
|
Cavan
|
10
|
1
|
|
|
Longford
|
10
|
1
|
|
|
Meath
|
24
|
5
|
1
|
|
Louth
|
24
|
4
|
|
|
Dublin
|
156
|
15
|
|
|
Kildare
|
28
|
5
|
1
|
|
Offaly
|
14
|
1
|
|
|
Laois
|
12
|
3
|
1
|
|
Wicklow
|
28
|
3
|
|
|
Carlow
|
14
|
1
|
|
|
Wexford
|
34
|
4
|
|
|
Kilkenny
|
12
|
3
|
|
|
Tipperary
|
20
|
5
|
|
|
Waterford
|
24
|
2
|
|
|
Clare
|
18
|
2
|
|
|
Limerick
|
26
|
3
|
|
|
Cork
|
56
|
6
|
|
|
Kerry
|
28
|
1
|
|
|
Total
|
690
|
88
|
4
|
The Public Charge Point Scheme has been in place since September 2019 and will continue to be available during 2021 to provide local authorities with a grant of up to €5,000 to support the development of on-street public chargers. The primary focus of this scheme is to provide support for the installation of infrastructure which will facilitate owners of EVs, who do not have access to a private parking space but rely on parking their vehicles in public places near their homes, to charge their EVs. Since the launch of the scheme, the SEAI has received requests from twelve local authorities for applications under the scheme with two completed applications from Louth County Council and Dublin City Council currently being assessed for approval to install a total of 24 charge points within their administrative areas. In addition, the four Dublin local authorities are currently examining their approach for a network of charging infrastructure in the metropolitan area. My Department is working closely with a number of key stakeholders, including Local Government, to ensure electric vehicle charging infrastructure stays ahead of demand. This includes developing appropriate guidance for local authorities in line with the Programme for Government which will ensure we can continue to expand our national charging network through the supports for on street chargers.
