SSE Airtricity plans to invest €35m over the next four years to install 30 ultra-rapid EV charging hubs powered by renewable electricity.
The first hub will open at the Lough Sheever Corporate Park in Mullingar next year. The site will be publicly accessible and designed to accommodate long-wheelbase vehicles and buses, as well as cars and fleet vehicles.
Subject to planning permission, the company said that additional hubs with 10 charging bays will be installed in Blanchardstown Business Park and Greenogue Industrial Estate in Dublin.
It is expected that a total of six sites will be operational by the end of 2023, with a further 10 coming online in 2024. Each ultra-rapid bay will have charging capabilities of up to 150 kilowatts, sufficient to deliver 12.5 kms of range per minute of charging.
Kevin Welstead, EV director sector SSE, said: “From our network in the UK, we understand that when it comes to charging people just want to be back on the move on in the shortest amount of time possible.”
In Association with
SSE’s first ultra-rapid charging hub powered by renewable energy went live in Glasgow at the end of September.
A 2021 study by the UK’s Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology found that Ireland ranked joint-last in terms of implementing charging infrastructure.
Figures released last month by the UK’s Department for Transport revealed that Northern Ireland has the lowest level of charging device provision in the UK (18 devices per 100,000).
Meanwhile, EasyGo, the largest private car charging network in Ireland, is partnering with Eir to replace telephone kiosks with Tritium 50kW EV chargers.
EasyGo plans to install Tritium chargers at 70 locations in counties Offaly, Mayo, Cavan, Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Monaghan, which will be rolled out over the next six months.
EasyGo says Tritium produces some of the most advanced DC fast chargers in the world.
According to Society of the Irish Motor Industry, about one out of every seven cars sold in Ireland this year are fully electric.
Image: Kevin Welstead, EV Director Sector SSE
