New EV charging hub proposed for city centre car park

A new electric vehicle charging hub could soon be installed at a city centre car park.

An application has been submitted to Wrexham Council proposing that the new charging points are created on a section of the Island Green park.

The plans have been submitted on behalf of MER Charging UK Ltd, which is described as being a ‘European EV charging company owned by Statkraft’ which has more than 25,000 EV charging points across Europe.

If approved the ‘ultra-rapid electrical vehicle charging hub’ which would be installed near the entrance to the shopping complex along Watery Road.

This would lead to the ‘repositioning of 11 existing parking spaces’ to facilitate the six new EV charging spaces.

An accompanying planning statement described the selected site as being 157sqm, with each space being served by 3 s-cc-5c-s Dual Charge points (1.5 meters in height) and two bollards.

The document adds that the plans also include “ancillary infrastructure in the form of a 500kVA compact substation, KEM C400 unit with integrated harmonic unit and meter cabinet.”

The substation will be located at the southeastern corner of the site.

Access to the site and the new charging points will remain via Watery Road,

The application concludes: “With almost a third of greenhouse gasses in the UK resulting from transportation, the Government recognises that there is a need to transition from fossil fuel modes of transport to clean modes, primarily electric vehicles.

“The UK Government has subsequently set out its plans to cease the sale of petrol and diesel cars in the UK by 2035. This is further supported by the Welsh governments strategies and legislation which wholly strengthen the contention for wider provision of EV charging infrastructure.

“While Wrexham County Borough Council do not have a specific EV charging strategy, they recognise the need to increase EV charging provision to encourage the uptake of EVs within their Decarbonisation Plan.

“Furthermore, Local Plan Policies SP18 and SP12 support the reduction of CO2 emissions, the promotion of sustainable travel choices and delivery of a transport network that can adapt to the effects of climate change.

“Taking the above into consideration, there is a clear local and national ambition of tackling climate change, encouraging sustainable travel modes and assisting in achieve net carbon zero targets.

“It is widely recognised that the lack of charging infrastructure, particularly ultra-rapid charging stations, is a major barrier to the take up of electric vehicles. Ultra-rapid charging facilities are, therefore, essential for the transition in environmentally sustainable behaviour to meet the net carbon zero targets.”

The application will be considered for approval by Wrexham Council at a later date.