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electric vehicle charging at a school
February 29, 2024 In EV Charging, News and Events, Public Sector

EV charging grant for schools, and other funding updates

There’s been a lot happening in the EV charging space recently, in terms of initiatives to encourage electric vehicle adoption and the installation of EV charging infrastructure. Here’s our round up of the key highlights and specifics to have on your radar, when it comes to EV charging grants and funding measures.

 

EV charging grant for schools

The Department for Transport has recently increased the amount education institutions (including schools, colleges, academy trusts, and nurseries) can receive to install electric vehicle chargepoints.

The schools grant is part of the Workplace Charging Scheme and it’s open to all state-funded schools and educational institutions. It covers up to 75% of the cost of the purchase and install of EV chargepoints, up to £2,500 per socket. That’s a significant rise from the previous £350.

Schools and educational settings can use the grant to install as many as 40 EV chargepoints across all sites. This is a great way to boost chargepoint facilities for staff and visitors. The Department for Transport has also advised that schools could use the chargepoints to generate revenue, by making them available to the public.

To be eligible to apply, any school or educational setting needs to have dedicated off-street parking facilities. You can make an application online here.

Our Joju Charging team can also talk you through the schools grant application process, if you’d like to get in touch.

Independent schools can apply for funding too, through the Workplace Charging Scheme and the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant for Staff and Fleets. 

 

 

LEVI update

We’ve been sharing news and supporting councils with information for applications for the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund. The government is delivering £381 million to local authorities across the country, for the rollout of EV charging infrastructure to support drivers across the UK. The first capital payments for charging projects have been approved for local authorities including Bedford, East Sussex, North Yorkshire and the London boroughs of Hackney and Hounslow.

Here at Joju Charging, we’re also helping to bring EV charging to more rural areas in Dorset as part of a LEVI funded pilot. If you’re a local authority looking to reach more of your communities with EV charging infrastructure, do subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about a licence agreement we’ve created that could speed things up. The agreement enables tier 1 authorities to roll out EV charging networks across their areas, in association with sub authorities and even with the private sector. This framework has been over a year in the making, and we now have it for more of our local authority clients to benefit from.

 

 

Supporting EV chargepoint procurement

Through LEVI capability funding, almost 100 EV officers have been recruited to support chargepoint procurement. They will also help local authorities build teams to deliver EV charging projects. An electric vehicle infrastructure (EVI) training course will be open to all local authorities from mid-March as well, after a successful trial.

The government is also launching a consultation to look at speeding up charge point installation across the county. Proposals would mean street works could be carried out using a permit (rather than a licence), which can be issued much faster.

 

Don’t forget ORCS!

Local authorities can also still access the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS). We’re always happy to talk through the application process with you.

 

 

A welcome drive to go electric

With the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealing that the UK achieved the million EV’s on the road milestone in early February, we welcome all measures to support local authorities and drivers to make the switch to electric. As EVIE’s Contractor of the Year, Joju Charging is always ready to support with the design and installation of reliable, robust EV Charging infrastructure.

Joju Solar installed solar on Godalming Leisure Centre
December 12, 2023 In Public Sector, Solar, Solar PV

Leisure Centres and Solar – Funding the Future of Community Facilities

Leisure centres are often at the very heart of our communities. They provide a chance for us to focus on fitness and wellbeing and in many cases, leisure centres include a pool. This gives people the opportunity to learn to swim, to get involved in swimming classes, or to make time for a sport that can be both relaxing and invigorating for all ages.

However, if you think about how much energy it takes to operate a leisure centre with a pool, you’re probably right in imagining it doesn’t come cheap.

Counting the cost

Last year, the Local Government Chronicle reported that the Local Government Association and UK Active, (a group committed to getting “more people more active more often”), received “significant anecdotal information” from councils and providers that the energy issue is “driving decisions about facility closures or reduced opening hours”.

A survey of its members revealed the average energy bill was £3.2m in 2022. This represents a 113% increase compared to the £1.5m average cost for each Centre in 2019. 2023 costs are predicted to escalate to at least £3.3m, so what does this mean for the future of these facilities?

Financing the future

Back in the Spring, the Chancellor announced the Swimming Pool Support Fund (SPSF), making £60 million available to support facilities with swimming pools.  The funding was split into two phases. Phase I offered £20 million of revenue for facilities facing increased cost pressures which left them vulnerable to closure or significant service reduction. Monies from this phase have been allocated in full.

The second phase allocates £40 million in capital investment to improve the energy efficiency of public facilities with pools, in the medium to long term. Allocation of these funds will be confirmed by the end of January 2024. Applications closed in late October.

Sport England also made £20m of Lottery funding available to complement the government’s £40m capital fund, increasing the number of facilities benefiting from these improvements. They are administering the fund too.

At Joju, we’ve been helping leisure centres install solar for several years now, to improve energy efficiency and cut operational energy costs. We’ve supported leisure centres all across the UK, including Godalming Leisure Centre, Xcel Leisure Centre and Bridport Leisure Centre .

 

Working together

If you’ve received, or are about to receive, funding from the Swimming Pool Support Fund and are looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency of your leisure centre building, do let us know. We’re experts at working with public sector organisations and when it comes to the installation of solar on leisure centres, we have the experience to make the whole process hassle free from beginning to end.

As well as design and installation expertise, we understand how important it is for the Centre to remain open, as normal, throughout the project. The way we manage every installation always makes sure this is the case.

 

S Georges' SPorts Centre, Scott Brown Rigg, Architects

Community funding

If you discover your leisure centre hasn’t been successful in the application for funding, all is not lost. When it comes to improving energy efficiency, cutting costs, and reducing carbon, we’ve been helping community buildings fund solar in a different way for many years. In fact, we helped develop community energy schemes, having installed the very first community-funded installation in Oxford in 2008.

A community energy approach means clean generation is owned by, and benefits, the local community. It’s the way Bridport Leisure Centre’s solar array was funded and at Joju, we’re incredibly experienced and well connected within the community energy sector. There’s no-one better placed to explore the funding of your solar project in this way, meaning you won’t pay a penny. You can read more about our community energy experience and find out more detail about community energy schemes, here.

 

Joju Solar installation on Bridport Leisure Centre

A bright future?

All in all, when it comes to funding solar energy on leisure centres, the future can certainly be bright! The SPSF will deliver more support for solar to reduce costs through clean, green energy created by the sun.

Community energy could also help to support your plans, if you’re a council or leisure centre who has not had government or Sport England funding awarded to you.

For a chat about how we could help your Leisure Centre work towards a brighter funded future, please do get in touch.

KIngston, Sure Charge, TfL, GULCS, Lamp post charger, City EV, FM Conway
December 23, 2020 In Electric Vehicles, EV Charging, News and Events, Public Sector

Lighting up London with Lamp Post EV Charge Points

Joju Charging has won the contract under the TfL GULCS framework (Go Ultra Low City Scheme) with the Royal Borough of Kingston, to provide 100 street light charge points for local Kingston residents. The charge points will be installed on existing lamp posts during February and March and will help people make the switch to EV, as residents without access to off street parking will soon be able to park on the street near their homes, plug their electric vehicle into a charge point on a street light and charge away!

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EVIEs Awards, Winners, 2020
November 3, 2020 In EV Charging, News and Events, Public Sector, Residential

Joju Charging win at the EVIEs Awards

It was a night to celebrate for Joju as our work was recognised with two prizes at the prestigious EVIEs Awards.

The EVIEs are the leading UK industry awards for those involved in the electric vehicle industry, and their remit is to “shine a light on innovation and excellence in the emerging EV sector”.  The awards reflect on the achievements of those companies and institutions engaged in delivering the electric vehicle transition.

The panel awarded Joju Charging the prize for “Contractor of the Year” in recognition of our work designing and installing EV charge point schemes for the Public Sector, homes and workplaces.  Joju’s Commercial Director, Joe Michaels said “We’re delighted to have received this award … it is a testament to the hard work put in by the team, and the partnerships we have developed with councils and charge point manufacturers.  We decided to start offering EV charge just over three years ago, and we are now delivering many hundreds of quality charge point installations each year.”

EVIES Awards, Installer of the Year, prize

The prize for “Public Sector Infrastructure Strategy of the Year” was awarded for the Central Southern Regional Framework – run by Hampshire County Council in partnership with Joju Charging as the installation partner.  Hampshire established the framework to deliver a coherent charging solution for public sector bodies across the south of England.  We are now engaged with 64 public sector bodies in the Framework region and have completed 400 charge points under major programmes for:

  • Surrey Police
  • Southampton City Council
  • Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
  • Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Chichester District Council
  • Sussex Police
  • Reading Borough Council
  • Southampton University
  • Southampton Solent University
  • Test Valley District Council
  • New Forest District Council

The Framework also features an innovative fully-funded option, developed by Joju, which enables councils to install charge points at zero cost.

All in all, it’s been a great team effort and, naturally,  we’re all enjoying being recognised by the EVIE Awards.  But Joe is keen to stress we’re not finished there. “To be recognised as industry-leading installers in such a short time is a great achievement.  But the EV transition is just at the very early stages, and there is a huge amount still be done to electrify transport over the next decade.  That’s our mission”.

Find our more

 

 

 

 

Egni Coop, Awel Amen Tawe, Newport, solar, schools
March 19, 2020 In Community, Public Sector, Schools, Solar

How to install solar in schools

We’re currently building a 2MW community energy scheme with a Welsh community energy group called Awel Amen Tawe.  Their Egni Coop is working with Newport Council to install solar on their schools and other public buildings such as the velodrome.  Dan McCallum from Egni Coop, has written this rather excellent blog piece, looking at the finer details of the project panning and installation process.

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November 24, 2016 In Opinion, Public Sector, Solar

What the Autumn Statement means for UK Housing

Last week Joju exhibited at Homes 2o16 at the London Olympia. The UK’s largest exhibition for housing professionals. Delegates, exhibitors and guests at Homes 2016 were all there to discuss how councils, housing associations and constructors would meet the Government’s pledge, from earlier this year, to build one million new homes by 2020 at a cost of £5 billion. Now a week on and following yesterday’s Autumn budget the industry are responding to the decision by the Government to invest a further £1.4bn to deliver 40,000 affordable homes across Britain and at the same time relax restrictions on government grants to widen the types of homes being built.

The announcement of a £2.3 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund to overcome local objections and unlock 100,000 new homes in areas of high demand in particular seems an overall positive decision. However, new communities must be supported by improvements to local infrastructure. Energy infrastructure will be crucial for these new homes especially when one considers the potential of solar power and home battery storage to improve the lives of those in social housing and first time buyers.  New communties don’t need to rely on the old and tired methods that limit existing developments. Housebuilders should be considering the issues, like energy consumption, that may face households of the future. At Joju we firmly believe solar PV and home battery storage can play a crucial role in creating fairer homes of the future.

In particular the new Housing Infrastructure Fund will give housebuilders a helping hand to accelerate the delivery of new homes in high demand localities such as London, Cambridge and Oxford. All areas in which Joju has worked before and where we can see ourselves playing a crucial role.

While the decision to address the UK’s housing supply crisis is welcome and the headline numbers seem eye-catching it does require a stretch of the imagination to believe that a new homes supply can be unlocked for £23,000 each or an affordable house can be built for £35,000. Future housing has to be built in a way that is fairer for all and looking for energy savings through solar PV and LED energy efficient lighting could be two ways of doing this.

It is, however, clear to all that this was a budget produced by a Chancellor who ultimately has one hand tied behind his back by the Brexit result and the uncertainity it brings while at the same time he must placate a Prime Minister trying to keep her party in line. There is still so much economic uncertainty that it is difficult to be over excited by announcements of increased infrastructure spending and more housebuilding.

Whatever your own opinions of the new Chancellor’s budget the ideas announced yesterday demonstrate that this new government does recognise that housing is a key part of our infrastructure and that it brings economic benefits. We only hope at that they are a government who can also see the tangible benefits of investing in sustainable, fairer and more environmentally friendly technologies like solar PV and LED efficient lighting at the planning and construction stage.