£190m motorway charging grid scheme moves closer to tender

National Highways has moved a £190 million programme to strengthen electricity connections at motorway service areas closer to procurement.

The second phase of supplier engagement for the Strategic Charging Infrastructure Scheme will help decide how the works are packaged, delivered and commercially structured before the formal tender.

That tender is currently expected on February 1, 2027, with construction provisionally running from July 2027 to May 2028.

The procurement could include electricity distribution equipment, wider electrical installation work, civil engineering, land preparation and substation housing.

Earlier engagement indicated that individual motorway service areas could need between 5MVA and 50MVA of additional capacity, with connections potentially delivered at 11kV, 33kV or 132kV depending on the site.

That means there could be a sizeable pipeline of work for contractors – but National Highways has yet to decide exactly how it’ll divide the works between suppliers. What we do know however, is that this work is long overdue. 

Grid capacity constraints have already delayed charging expansion at motorway service areas, particularly where larger connections depend on reinforcement elsewhere on the network, but will this work help resolve that? 

Well, one question from the original scheme design still remains unresolved, as the Government’s demand framework includes future charging requirements from cars, vans, coaches and electric HGVs. But under the proposals published earlier this year, the additional capacity would be made available to motorway service area operators and open-access chargepoint operators through the normal connection process.

There is still no indication that part of that capacity will be protected specifically for electric HGV charging.

That creates the risk that capacity sized partly around future eHGV demand could be taken by other charging developments first.

The Government has said consultation responses will inform the final scheme design, so those rules could still change before contracts are awarded, but at this point in time we still don’t know. 

Supplier engagement closes on October 30, after which National Highways is expected to refine its procurement approach ahead of the planned February tender.