COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, November 09, 2020

QUESTION NO.8

QUESTION: Councillor Clare O'Byrne

In light of the national plan to have one million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, to ask the Chief Executive if SDCC has applied for the Government's Electric Vehicle Public Charge Point Grant and to provide a report on the matter.

REPLY:

Under the National Climate Action Plan 2019, the government outlined its strategy to achieve significant carbon reduction targets towards 2050. Included in the plan, is the objective to increase the number of Electric Vehicles on Irish roads to approximately 1,000,000 units by 2030, and to build a supporting EV charging network to stay ahead of the projected demand. Funding was made available to Local Authorities through the SEAI to provide 1,000 on-street public charging points for EVs over the 5 year term of the grant.

The grant is aimed to facilitate residents who do not have direct access to off street parking, but who wish to switch from a petrol/diesel car to an Electric Vehicle. Charge points facilitated by the grant may be located on-street or in Local Authority carparks. Typically, charging posts supply AC power through 2 plug sockets each supplying 22kW of power.

Grant funding of 75% of capital costs are available capped at €5,000 per single charge point. A charge post with 2 sockets would receive €10,000 in grant funding.

Applications for funding from Local Authorities will be dealt with in blocks of 20, subsequent applications can be made once the first 20 have been processed. To be eligible for grant funding, a Local Authority must have a plan in place which includes pricing, maintenance, billing and customer support.

In 2019, a Dublin EV regional working group agreed that the rollout of an EV network should be coordinated as to ensure that sufficient numbers of compatible units were deployed across the region, and that because of the developing technology involved, unavailable technical guidance and unregulated rollout in other jurisdictions, it would be appropriate to engage a consultant with expertise in the area to examine the Dublin region and develop a deployment strategy.

Element Energy were engaged to develop a regional EV charging strategy. A draft report was delivered to the LAs on 1st October, 2020. SDCC have submitted comments on the draft report and a final document is expected by the middle of November.

The Regional EV Charging Strategy will form the basis for SDCC’s investment in EV charging locations up to 2030.

The next step in the process will be to identify key locations where investment in EV Charge points are required and some of this work has progressed. The delivery of EV charge points will require a detailed procurement process in relation to supply, installation and on-going maintenance of equipment and the management of the back office billing platform. Work with the ESB in relation to the power supply requirements at these locations will occur in parallel. It is at this stage in the delivery of EV charge points, that SDCC will be in a position to engage with the SEAI and seek grant funding for the new infrastructure.