The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan and the Chief Executive of ESB Padraig McManus, have officially launched the country’s first Electric Vehicle charge points. Two of the charge points are located outside the ESB headquarters on Fitzwilliam Street, with one in Adelaide Road and another on Molesworth Street.

The unveiling of these charge points marks the beginning of a nationwide project which will eventually see a network of points across the country for drivers of electric vehicles. The network will include charging stations along motorway routes as well as in densely populated urban areas.

According to Padraig McManus, the ESB plan to install 3500 charge points by 2012, with 2000 of these located in domestic houses while the remaining 1500 will be located on-street. There will also be up to 30 fast chargers installed along motorways across the country.

He also added " ESB’s corporate strategy of the decarbonisation of its electricity generation by 2035 will allow for the development of a decarbonised national transport system. "

The greatest concentration of charge points will be around the most densely populated urban areas, including Dublin City & County (500), Cork (135), Limerick (45), Galway (45), and Waterford (45).

The remaining charge points will be evenly spaced throughout the country with at least one being built in every town with a population over 1,500. The 30 fast chargers to be ready for use by 2011 and will be located 60km apart along all major inter city routes.

Dublin city centre now has four on-street charge points in operation, and by end of June 2010 Dun Laoghaire Rathdown will have a further two. There will be three in Cork, two in Limerick, two in Galway, two in Waterford and one in Portlaoise. The remainder of on street-charge points installed in 2011 will depend on the popularity of electric vehicles in the market.

The government has set ambitious targets of 10% of all vehicles to be electric-run by 2020.
They are expecting 2000 Electric vehicles to be in use by the end of 2011and a further 6,000 by the end of 2012. The project was described by Minister Eamon Ryan as “a genuine first for Ireland”.

“Just over a year ago, the government announced its intention that 10% of the Irish motoring fleet will be electric by 2020. We have seen great progress since then. Ireland will be among the first in the world with this kind of nationwide infrastructure. It is bold, ambitious and will show Ireland as a global leader in the green economy”, he added.

“We will continue to press ahead with our plans to reach, if not exceed, our targets and change the face of Irish motoring”, the Minister said.

The on-street charging facilities are free until the end of 2010. When the payment system comes into operation all electricity suppliers will be able to compete through a common infrastructure.

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