The starting gun has been fired for the installation of up to 900 electric vehicle charging points by Blackburn with Darwen Council. The authority’s growth boss Cllr Quesir Mahmood has approved the tendering of the 15-year-contract to appoint a Charge Point Operator (CPO) for the programme using a £1.6million government grant.
Phase one of the scheme will see 260 charge points installed – at 75 pre-selected, purpose-built sites at locations where residents don’t have access to off-street parking – by April 2027. Phase Two will see between 346 and 640 further charge points installed by April 2033. Of these 90 per cent are to be installed directly on-street and 10 per cent to be installed on council owned car-parks.
The new chargers are in addition to separate council scheme to support residents without off-street parking to make an application for the installation of a cable channel in the footway from their address to provide an EV charger using the household’s domestic electricity supply.
In a report authorising the issue of tenders using the government’s £1.6m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) grant received last month, Cllr Mahmood said: “This tender will be a for a contract with the successful CPO for a 15-year contract to provide up to 900 charge points in locations where residents don’t have access to off-street parking.
“It is to appoint a CPO to provide, install and maintain Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (ECVI) across Blackburn with Darwen. In April 2024 we approved the appointment of the CPO Urban Fox for a 15-year concession contract to test the evaluation process and procurement framework.
“This gave us good experience of appointing a suitable CPO able to provide, install and maintain 25 charge points at five sites. It also proved that the EVCI plan was viable and attractive to the market.
“We need to submit an Invitation To Tender (ITT) to allow CPOs to submit applications to provide, install and maintain up to 900 charge points all across Blackburn, Darwen and rural wards. This will be done in two phases.”
He said phase one will install 260 charge points at 75 pre-selected, purpose-built sites where residents don’t have access to off-street parking – up to April 2027. The council will use the LEVI funding to develop the sites, providing civils groundwork, signs, lines and Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to protect each.
Phase two will plan for between 346 and 640 further charge points – depending on the numbers submitted during the tender. 90 will be installed directly on-street and 10 per cent installed on council owned car-parks.
Cllr Mahmood added: “Over 900 potential streets have been identified where residents don’t have access to off-street parking. The quicker we can put our ITT out to market, the better the chance that CPOs will bid for our tender, on favourable terms.”
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