Great Yarmouth Borough Council launches second phase of electric car charging points across the borough

The initial phase of the charge points are part of the council's plan and successful funding to install a total of 16 charge points, which will service a total of 32 bays in total, across Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.

The locations of the newest charge points, which were chosen in higher population areas that are considered popular with both visitors and residents, are the car parks at St. Nicholas Park long stay car park on South Beach Parade, Market Place, Greyfriars and Beach Coach Station.

The Rapid Charge Point at Fullers Hill, which can give vehicles up to 80% charge in just 20 to 30 minutes, saved the equivalent to 50 trees between May 2019 and May 2021 and saved a massive 8.4 ton in CO2 saving in its 735 sessions.

The new charging points are fast charging, meaning it will take four to five hours to complete a full charge depending on vehicle. The charge points are provided by BMM Energy Solutions subsidiary BMM Networks and are powered by renewable energy.

As phase two of the council gaining funding for green interventions in the town centre, the council has worked with the Energy Saving Trust to gain 75% of the funding needed for the charging points installation from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles. The completion of the planned phase will be accomplished over the course of 2021.

The charge points can be accessed by the EVDot App and RFID card. Loyalty cards such as Tesco Clubcard and Nectar cards can also be registered against a user's account to authenticate and stop a charging session.

Cllr Paul Wells, chairman of the Environment committee, said: "The funding we've been successful in gaining is really going to help us make our town centre more sustainable, which will help reduce the carbon emissions that have such a harmful impact on our environment.

"The aim of these installations is to increase the confidence of both local residents and visitors that Great Yarmouth can provide those who use electric cars with suitable and accessible charging points."

Terry Mohammed, CEO of BMM Energy Solutions, said "It is our mission to support local authorities through the daunting task of rolling out Electric Vehicle Charging infrastructure across their towns and cities. We have wealth of experience in these types of works and offering a fully managed turnkey solution, from site feasibility, new DNO connections, civils and electrical work right through to charge point operation (CPO) and maintenance streamlines the process.

"Powering low carbon transport with renewable energy to ensure a greener, more environmentally and sustainable way for us to travel is our end goal and working with Local Authorities, their residents and businesses is key to the uptake."