An electric vehicle charging revolution could be underway after UK Power Networks revises guidance to give the green light to use lamp posts to power up.
A series of studies undertaken by the distribution network operator for London, the South and East of England has proven 5kW chargepoints can be installed even on older lamp posts which have thinner cabling than more modern installations.
UK Power Networks worked closely with the UK’s largest public charge point operator, Shell ubitricity to undertake technical assessments, and has now updated its technical guidance to give confidence to the energy industry to deliver a large-scale roll-out of lamp post charging.
The study came after some local authorities on the South Coast of England were ordered to stop installing lamp post chargers on older legacy columns with different wiring. Local authorities own and operate streetlights, with distribution network operators like UK Power Networks delivering the power to them.
The revised guidance is expected to help electric vehicle owners in towns and cities, where it is estimated that up to 60% of people do not have access to off-street parking. It will give all 133 local authorities operating in the area UK Power Networks serves the green light to connect faster 5kW chargepoints to their lamp posts.
Local authorities will also now be able to push ahead with their plans to increase the number of chargers through the government’s Local EV Infrastructure Fund. ubitricity internally estimates that for a budget of £1m local authorities could roll out 700-800 lamp post chargers compared to 60-75 Fast Dual charge points (7-22kW) or 20-25 Rapid Single charge points.
The UK government’s electric vehicle infrastructure strategy states that by 2030 between 300,000 and 700,000 public chargepoints will be needed to serve up to 10 million electric vehicles forecasted to be on the nation’s roads.
Mark Adolphus, director of Connections at UK Power Networks said: “This is great news for customers and lights the way for a vast swathe of new electric vehicle charging stations across the region we serve. It underlines the importance of networks collaborating with the wider energy industry to ensure they can deliver with confidence and certainty.”
Stuart Wilson, market unit Lead at ubitricity said: “Lamp post charging helps local authorities to rollout out charging infrastructure at scale and allows EV drivers to charge their cars close to home. Over 8 million households in the UK do not have access to off-street parking and without strong public EV charging infrastructure, there is a legitimate concern that people without a driveway will be left behind in the transition to electric vehicles in the UK. This is great news for EV drivers and we are proud to have collaborated with UK Power Networks on this guidance”.