New €100m EV charging plan will put pressure on national grid

A plan to install thousands of electric vehicle (EV) charging points around the country will place “more pressure than ever” on the electricity grid, the Government has been warned.

Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan will today announce a €100 million strategy that aims for charging points to be placed at 60km intervals along motorways and taxi ranks, tourist sites, hospitals, hotels and sports clubs. There are also plans for charging systems to serve apartment blocks and neighbourhoods.

The strategy, seen by The Irish Times, states the number of charging points could increase from some 1,700 to between 2,540 and 4,850 within three years. As a result of the significant numbers of additional charging points being contemplated, it warns that the “widespread use of electric vehicles will place more pressure than ever on Ireland’s electricity network”.

‘Significant challenges’

“The path towards electric mobility may not only change the overall demand volume but also the shape of the hourly load curve of the power system. This will entail significant challenges for electricity generation and transmission as well as distribution infrastructure,” it states.

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The Government hopes that by 2030 nearly one-third of private cars will be EVs. However, there is a long distance to go before this is achieved. A total of 16,162 new EVs were registered last year, up from 8,646 in 2021 and 3,444 in 2019, half of which were bought in Dublin and Cork. In all, there are 73,500 EVs of all types on State roads, including second-hands.

Under the strategy, so-called destination charging would mean stations set up at tourist and leisure locations such as parks, hotels and visitor attractions. Placing this infrastructure at these locations is important for the continued uptake of electric vehicles, the strategy states.

“Therefore, it is essential for the electricity grid to have the capacity and resilience to support such demand.”

[ Just four local authorities sign up to electric vehicle public charge point scheme ]

[ Sales of electric cars jumped 81% in 2022 ]

[ Republic comes top in European electric vehicle tax survey for company cars ]

Drivers will as a consequence be encouraged to charge during off-peak hours, with night-time charging costing about half the daytime price.

Another possibility being examined by the Government to ease pressure on the grid is micro-generation, where homes and businesses generate renewable energy for their own consumption.

The planned rapid expansion of the charging network would mean new on-street charging points introduced for those who cannot charge their vehicles at home, as well as new shared charging areas. This would mean EV owners could rent out the use of their personal home-charging point.

‘Charging network’

There would also be high-powered points for those making longer journeys, such as between cities or along the national road network. There will also be more publicly accessible heavy-duty vehicle points.

In the Republic, there are approximately 375 publicly accessible higher-powered charging points, a number that will need to increase to between 780 and 1,320 in order to meet EU obligations.

“Delivering this ultra-rapid charging network will require a high level of planning as well as engagement with energy providers and electricity network operators. The energy demand for this will be significant, with power demands of above 2MW [megawatts] required in some cases. This is equivalent to a connection for a large factory or 800-home housing estate,” the strategy states.

Mr Ryan will also unveil a €15 million scheme to help sports clubs install EV charging points in communities across the island for use when people are dropping their children off or using the facility themselves. He said that sales of electric vehicles are “skyrocketing” and that the extra infrastructure “should take away any concern or worry that people might have about access to charging points”.