The government is closing in on its preferred manager or managers for the EV Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund.
However an appointment is not now expected to be made until the New Year, with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) now going through the final required approvals, Current± can reveal.
First announced within chancellor Philip Hammond’s budget in November 2017, the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (CIIF) is designed to stimulate the deployment of EV charging infrastructure up and down the UK.
The government committed to contributing £200 million to the fund, with a separate fund manager to be appointed and tasked with matching that with £200 million of third-party finance.
In April, Current± revealed that the IPA was preparing to appoint an external fund manager and, after holding around 70 meetings with private sector stakeholders and fund managers, the IPA then launched a formal request for proposals (RFP) in July, inviting bids from prospective managers of the fund.
That RFP stated that it was the IPA’s intention to appoint a manager in either November or December 2018 in order for them to be in a position to begin investing early next year.
Speaking to C±, an IPA spokesperson said that it was narrowing in on its choice of preferred fund manager or fund managers.
“We are pleased with the level of response from the fund manager community and industry to our Request for Proposal for the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund.
“Since the Request for Proposal closed we have been engaging with relevant parties, carrying out detailed due diligence and are now in the final stages of selecting a preferred bidder(s). We are currently going through the required approvals and expect to be in a position to confirm this shortly.”
Financing the country’s deployment of EV charging infrastructure will be a significant topic of discussion at Current± publisher Solar Media’s Everything EV Congress, to be held between 2 – 3 April 2019 in London. Further details on the conference and how to attend can be found here.
