Oxford’s Redbridge Park & Ride site is set to host up to 38 fast and ultra-rapid chargers in a £41M electric vehicle ‘superhub’ due to open in
Q4 this year. It comes as Oxford is set to launch the UK’s first Zero Emission Zone in August, where vehicles are charged based on their emissions, with EVs able to use the zone for free.
The hub is being built by Pivot Power, part of EDF Renewables, EV charging companies Fastned, Wenea andTesla Superchargers.
The Superhub is directly connected to the high voltage network. It will share a new connection with a 50MW hybrid battery – the largest ever deployed using lithium-ion and vanadium flow technology. The hub is the first of up to 40 similar sites planned by Pivot Power across the UK. Two are under construction (Oxford and Kensley in Kent) and eight more have development planned for 2021/22. See map of sites here.
Fastned will initially install ten chargers at the Superhub with 300kW of power, partly generated by the company’s solar roof and eventually allow 14 EVs to charge simultaneously. Fastned currently has over 135 charging stations across the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and the UK, and recently raised €150 million to accelerate the growth of its network.
Wenea will deploy 16 7-22kW charging points for ESO. Wenea owns more than 170 fast and rapid chargers and recently secured a €100M financing line to deliver an additional 470 rapid chargers over the next 2 years. It is backed by Gamma Energy Ltd for the project.
A further twelve 250kW Tesla Superchargers will be available for Tesla owners.
Matt Allen, CEO at Pivot Power, said: “Oxford is one of 40 sites we are developing across the UK, combining up to 2GW of battery storage with high volume power connections for mass EV charging. Energy Superhub Oxford supports EDF’s plan to become Europe’s leading e-mobility energy company by 2023, and is a blueprint we want to replicate right across the country.”
The project is part of a wider Oxford initiative that integrates EV charging, battery storage, low carbon heating and smart energy management technologies.It has government funding of £10 million to the project via UKRI’s Prospering from the Energy Revolution programme.
Councillor Tom Hayes, Cabinet Member for Green Transport and Zero Carbon Oxford at Oxford City Council, said: ” We are excited to be taking a major step forward in the completion of Energy Superhub Oxford, working closely and superbly with our private sector partners. As an ambitious city, we are excited about the prospect of further innovation and investments, building upon our record of transformational public and private sector delivery.”
The consortium of UK companies, led by Pivot Power with Oxford City Council, University of Oxford, Habitat Energy, Kensa Contracting, and Invinity Energy Systems, is delivering the EV Superhub, 100 ground source heat pumps and grid-scale battery storage.
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