Shropshire Council in England is preparing a major procurement opportunity to expand publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across the county. Under the initiative, the council intends to appoint a charge point operator through a long-term concession contract covering the design, supply, installation, grid connection, operation and maintenance of charging facilities. The estimated contract value is £108 million excluding VAT, equivalent to £130 million including VAT. The initiative aims to support the growing adoption of electric vehicles and improve access to charging facilities across urban and rural communities.

Shropshire currently has approximately 546 public EV charging points, and the council expects to facilitate the installation of more than 550 additional charge points through the programme. The project is supported by £2.006 million in funding secured under the UK Department for Transport’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund. The expansion is intended to improve charging accessibility, particularly for residents who do not have private driveways or off-street parking where they can install their own chargers.

The proposed charging network will consist primarily of standard 7 kW chargers, supplemented by 22 kW fast chargers and a limited number of rapid chargers rated at 50 kW or above, depending on site suitability, electricity network capacity and commercial viability. The infrastructure is expected to be installed mainly on public streets and council-owned land. The appointed operator will be responsible for site assessments, detailed design, installation and commissioning, electrical network connections, customer support, payment systems, ongoing maintenance, asset replacement and performance monitoring.

The procurement is currently at the preliminary market engagement stage. Through this exercise, Shropshire Council is seeking feedback from potential suppliers on its proposed concession structure, funding assumptions, site selection methodology and delivery model. Particular areas of interest include traffic regulation orders, site assessments, infrastructure design, stakeholder engagement and customer communications. The market engagement deadline was 20 October 2026, while the council anticipated launching the formal procurement during 2026 and awarding the contract in 2027.