Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Power to the people
Surge in number of charging points for electric vehicles
Hundreds of new electric vehicle charging points are to be put in place across Monklands and the wider Lanarkshire area this year as part of a “groundbreaking” £5 million pilot project.
North and South Lanarkshire councils are working with Transport Scotland and Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) to install 220 chargers at 37 sites across the region by December – five times as many as are currently available.
The new facilities will be installed in council- owned car parks, with specific locations currently being identified and installation work due to begin next month in support of the Scottish Government target to phase out new petrol and diesel vehicles in 12 years’ time.
Councillors on North Lanarkshire’s environment and transportation committee gave their backing to the initiative, known as Project PACE, at their latest meeting.
Its convener, Councillor Michael McPake, said: “This is an innovative, ambitious plan for Lanarkshire that will see a real increase in the electric vehicle charging infrastructure by the end of this year.
“The new network will contribute to reducing air pollution and providing access to clean energy for our residents.”
SNP group spokesperson William Goldie also welcomed the project and partnership with the neighbouring council, Transport Scotland and SPEN.
He said: “North Lanarkshire Council’s contribution will be to supply the landfill communities, and it is anticipated that the first charging point will be in place by April.”
Project PACE will see 162 rapid and 58 fast (dual socket) chargers installed, across 22 large, high-voltage hubs and 15 medium facilities with low-voltage connections, in what is described as a “scalable trial”.
It will focus on public charging network availability, such as on-street charging in urban residential areas, shared off-street charging such as in apartment block car parks, and at strategic locations on trunk roads.
Monklands’ current charging points include locations at Airdrie and Blairhill stations, Muiryhall Street car park and Maxim office park.
The new network will contribute to reducing airpollution and providing access to clean energy for our residents
Councillor McPake