Waterford gets two new EV charging hubs
The new EV charging hubs will be located in Lemybrien and Kilmeaden
County Waterford is to get two new Electric Vehicle (EV) charging hubs as part of a rollout of 53 new hubs across the country.
The move was announced on Wednesday, May 4, by Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien as part of the plan to service the expanding electric vehicle (EV) fleet across Ireland's national road network. An allocation of almost €8 million will be provided to support grants for recharging infrastructure at the selected sites, with chargers set to be in place by the end of this year.
The new charging points in Waterford will be at Applegreen in Lemybrien and also in Kilmeaden Business Centre, both of which are on the N25. The new nationwide sites will deliver 175 new fast and ultra-fast recharging points making it quicker and easier for EV drivers to top up on longer journeys. The rollout is part of a wider plan to build a reliable recharging network across the country, with the distance between recharging hubs to be 60km or less.
Minister O’Brien said: “We’re taking real, practical steps to make electric vehicles work for everyone. With more chargers, more choice, and more support, we hope even more people will feel confident making the switch to electric. These high-powered chargers are a key step in that process. We’re committed to building a sustainable and cleaner transport system, and that means making it easy to charge wherever you are.” The recharging hubs are funded through the Light Duty Vehicle (LDV) initiative operated by Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI), and delivered by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). This phase of the initiative focused on over 1,200km of national single carriageway roads. Enterprises such as petrol/service station operators, car park owners, hotels, supermarkets/retail outlets, and others with publicly accessible sites, could apply through a competitive grant process for funding. The total allocation for this aspect is €7.9 million.
Peter Walsh, CEO of TII, said:
“Working in partnership with ZEVI and the private sector, this scheme is helping us build the kind of infrastructure people can rely on: fast, efficient and accessible.” The 53 recharging hubs will significantly improve coverage on the relevant roads. Efforts will continue to seek to address any sections of the 1,200km network requiring additional support, where it was not possible to make sufficient awards under this phase of the grant scheme programme.
The announcement marks another major milestone under Ireland’s National EV Charging Network Plan, which aims to make EV recharging accessible across all parts of the country, from motorways to rural roads, and from cities to small towns.
This is part of the wider ZEVI National Road Network EV Charging Plan, which previously awarded grant funding to deliver 131 new high-power recharging points at 17 locations along the motorway/dual-carriageway network. An additional scheme to support recharging infrastructure across another 3,000km of the national road network is also currently underway, with applications closing in June.
It also complements other supports already in place, including the EV purchase grant, home charger grants, and the reduced VRT for EVs.
