Denbighshire County Council in Wales has announced that work is due to begin on the installation of public electric vehicle (EV) charging points across the county, with completion expected by January 2023.
The council expects work to be undertaken during the next several months, with plans to install chargepoints at car parks throughout the area.
This includes the development of one of the UK’s largest EV charging sites, with 36 chargers, which is set to open at the West Kinmel Street Car Park, in Rhyl next month, the council has said.
This will reportedly be the biggest EV charging hub in Wales.
What’s more, the initiative is intended to improve people’s access to EV chargers across the region and align with the authority’s environmental ambitions, following the declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019 and adoption of the Climate and Ecological Change Strategy in 2021.
Denbighshire claims to have further EV initiatives planned as part of its goal to be a net carbon zero council by 2030.
The full list of car parks set to receive chargepoints is: Post Office Lane Car Park in Denbigh (two dual 22kW AC chargers with the ability to charge four vehicles); Bowling Green Car Park/ Lower High Street, St Asaph (one dual 22kW AC with the ability to charge two vehicles); Market St Car Park, Llangollen (two dual 22 kW AC); Pavilion Car Park, National Pavilion, Llangollen (two dual 22 kW AC); Cae Ddol Car Park, Crispin Yard (two dual 7Kw AC); Craft Centre Car Park, Park Road, Ruthin (two dual 22 kW AC); Fern Ave Car Park, Prestatyn (two dual 7Kw AC); and Morley Road Car Park, Rhyl (two dual 22kW AC).
Barry Mellor, councillor and lead member for environment and transport, said: “This is an important step forward in supporting community members who want to transition to electric vehicles but don’t have the facilities to do so.
“It will also help attract more electric vehicle drivers into our towns to benefit footfall and local business as a whole.
“Getting the infrastructure in place to support public use of electric vehicles across the county is important to tackle climate change and I look forward to seeing the end result which will also provide useful data to inform potential future expansion analysis of the EV charging network here in Denbighshire.”
