Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
420. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport the number of charging points for public use for electric vehicles by county; and his plans for the provision of further public charge points for electric vehicles. [20908/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra430. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport the number of public electric vehicle charging points constructed in each county in 2021 and to date in 2022; the total number of public electric vehicle charging points in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21028/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 420 and 430 together.
The Deputy will be aware that the Government is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle charging network over the coming years. A national charging infrastructure strategy was published for consultation at the end of this March which sets out a pathway to stay ahead of demand over the critical period out to 2025.
Preparations are also underway to establish Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland. This Office will play an important role in our transition to zero emission vehicles. It will co-ordinate measures to support the uptake of EVs and the rollout of charge point infrastructure.
Home charging is the primary charging method for most Irish EV owners as it’s convenient and cheaper for the consumer as well assists in the overall management of the national grid. Over 80% of charging is expected to happen at home. This means that the majority of EV users will never need to access the public network except for longer journeys.
A grant is available from the SEAI for those individuals seeking to install a home charger. Work is currently being progressed to expand the EV home charger grant to include shared parking in apartment blocks and similar developments. My Department is working closely with the SEAI and expects a scheme for apartments to open shortly.
There is also a need for a seamless public charging network that will provide for situations or instances where home charging is not possible such as non-residential neighbourhood charging, destination charging, and motorway charging.
€10 million was committed from the Climate Action Fund to support ESB investment in the charging network and this has leveraged a further €10 million investment from ESB, with the infrastructure to be in place by the end of 2022. This intervention alone will result in:
- 90 additional high power chargers, each capable of charging two vehicles - Seventeen high-power chargers distributed across 14 multi-vehicle hubs have been delivered as part of the programme to date.
- 52 additional fast chargers, which may replace existing standard chargers - This work is completed at 36 locations.
- 264 replacement standard chargers with more modern technology and with each consisting of two charge points - This work is substantially complete. 258 of the chargers have now been successfully replaced.
Further details on the progression of this project including the rollout of charge points in each county can be found at esb.ie/ecars/our-network/network-upgrades. While the ESB network information is available, there are a number of private charge point operators with sites already live in Ireland. One of the expected tasks of ZEVI will be to collate information about the various networks available to the public and offer a central source of information to EV owners.
The Public Charge Point Scheme continues to be available during 2022 to provide local authorities with a grant of up to €5,000 to support the development of on-street public chargers. My Department has reviewed the Scheme and has announced through the draft Infrastructure Strategy a number of additional actions to ensure that it is as effective as possible in driving the de-carbonisation effort.
My Department is also developing a new scheme which will support the installation of destination charge points in locations such as visitor centres and parks. This new initiative will help provide another critical link in the overall network for public charging.
