A £7.5 million partnership that includes Transport Scotland, SP Energy Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity
Networks (SSEN) has been established in Scotland to deliver more electric-vehicle (EV) charging points and ensure that the infrastructure needed to support these is put in place.

As part of the project, SSEN will examine what electricity network infrastructure will be required to support the
increasing number of people travelling to the north of Scotland by electric vehicles.

The infrastructure needed for new charging points along the route of the ‘Electric A9’ will be identified and mapped.

In central and southern Scotland, SP Energy Networks will deliver additional public EV chargers integrated with the electricity network.

The pilot project will develop a model to increase the pace, accessibility and efficiency of the deployment of public chargers.

Speaking during a visit to University of Strathclyde Power Networks Demonstration Centre, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “This partnership highlights the critical role that electricity networks have to play in delivering a zero-carbon energy system and in facilitating an electric-vehicle revolution.

"The project will develop a new model for delivering both EV charging and an infrastructure that can more effectively satisfy Scotland’s ambitions.”

SSEN’s managing director (www.ssen.co.uk), Colin Nicol, said: “Government and industry have a shared determination to deliver net zero, and it’s only by working together that we’ll realise this goal.

“When it comes to Scotland’s low-carbon ambitions, no community should be left behind, and this partnership is exactly the joined-up approach needed to deliver investment in key EV infrastructure for our towns, cities and rural areas.”