A report updating on the tender to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced partner to roll out an on-street Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging programme within Reading. The report also seeks delegated authority to enter into a 15-year (with possible 1-year extension) contract with the successful bidder.

The Committee considered a report on progress relating to the tender to find a suitably qualified and experienced partner to roll out an on-street Electric Vehicle (EV) charging programme within Reading. The report also sought delegated authority from the Committee to authorise the Assistant Director of Environmental & Commercial Services, in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport, the Assistant Director of Legal & Democratic Services and the Director of Finance, to enter into a 15-year contract with the successful bidder (with a possible one-year extension) to deliver EV charging in the borough.

The subject of the tender was the provision of a network of EV charging infrastructure across the borough that would support the delivery of the Council’s EV Charging Strategy (a key aspect of the Council’s Local Transport Plan). The key objectives of the EV Charging Strategy included increasing public EV charging provision to ensure the uptake of EV technology was not constrained by a lack infrastructure and to ensure that that same infrastructure was appropriately distributed to ensure equitable access across the town.

The report summarised the procurement process and explained that the Council had completed stage one of a two stage open procurement process and had shortlisted five experienced contractors to return tenders. The successful tenderer would be required to enter into a contract with the Council to install, operate, and maintain at least 1,500 standard-speed on-street EV chargers, across the town, primarily utilising the existing lamp column power network. In locations where the lamp column power network could not be used, the contractor would be required to install alternative power and charging apparatus.

The report stated that a long-term contract of up to 15 years, with the option of a one-year extension, would be entered into to ensure financial security for both the Council and the successful bidder. The contract would include protections for the Council should the contractor go out of business, that would allow the Council to take over the assets and seek to award a contract to an alternative provider.  At the end of the contract the Council would be in a position to either have the units removed by the contractor or seek another suitable contractor via an open procurement process to take over the running and maintenance of the assets.

The successful bidder would be required to secure suitable funding themselves either privately or through the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (CIIF), to deliver the installation programme over a two-year period. The project would not require capital funding from the Council but would utilise £766k of the £866k of LEVI (Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) Grant funding that the Council had already secured from Government. The remaining £100k from the secured LEVI grant fund would be retained to support resident applications for cross-pavement EV charging solutions.

The successful bidder would be expected to cover the risks associated with the delivery of the scheme, including bearing the costs of any on-street charging units that did not achieve the expected usage. Tenderers would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6