Recommendation 9

HM Government Acknowledged

The Government partially accepts these recommendations. The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy will set out as part of its vision that no region or demographic should be left behind in the rollout of EV charging infrastructure and will outline the roles and responsibilities necessary to ensure this is realised. Ensuring the electricity networks in both urban and rural areas are able to cope with current and future demand from EVs is the responsibility of electricity network operators, and they are incentivised to do so through the regulatory framework set out by Ofgem, the independent regulator. Ofgem use price controls, known as RIIO, to determine the revenues network operators recover, investment they make and performance standards they must deliver. As part of the RIIO process, network operators forecast likely take-up of EVs, in order to shape investment plans for reinforcing the network in areas where it is needed. For EV chargepoint rollout, mapping of the electricity network is most useful at distribution network level, led by Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), rather than transmission operators such as National Grid. We have been working with the Energy Networks Association (ENA), who have committed to produce a National Energy System Map (NESM) to increase visibility of network infrastructure and allow investment to be optimised. The prototype of this map is scheduled for public release in October 2021, with a full production version in 2022. Along with regional network capacity heatmaps already produced by all DNOs in their areas, the map will provide prospective EV chargepoint operators with useful information on where network capacity is available for siting their projects.