Vale of Usk LEADER Funding Application Form Title of your Project: Fully Charged (Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Scheme) Section 1: Information about your group or business

Main Contact Details

Name: Mark Lloyd Telephone Number: 01633 644865

Your role in the Group:

Rural Programme Coordinator

Email address: marklloyd@monmouthshire.gov.uk

About your Group

Group Name:

Community-led renewable energy theme sub-group

When was it established?

September 2015

Your Group’s main purpose:

To manage the delivery of the community-led renewable energy theme on behalf of the Vale of Usk LAG

Do you have a bank account?

Finance is managed through Monmouthshire County Council as lead body for Vale of Usk LAG

Section 2: Details about your project – please see attached score sheet to see how your project will be scored. Please use additional paper, if the space provided is insufficient.

2a

Project Post Code Project Start Date Project End Date

NP15 1GA and others throughout the Vale of Usk area

June 2017 November 2018

The aim of the project is to increase awareness of the potential economic benefits of installing car charging points in the Vale of Usk by running a 12 month pilot. This will be achieved by installing numerous car charging points in suitable locations within the Vale of Usk area. The locations for charging points will be selected through an “open call” whereby businesses would need to apply to be one of the test locations. It is intended to include a range of business locations e.g. café, attraction and accommodation provider, in order to learn as much as possible from the pilot. We would also require a good geographical spread. The hospitality venue obligations to the project: a. To pay for the electricity used during the trial, typically 0.6 kWh per day and 20 kWh when used for car charging.

b. To offer free or ‘at cost’ charging to their customers, other users may be charged.

c. To include the charge point on their website, social media and advertising. d. Agree to contribute to an evaluation of the project. e. Agree to participate in any promotional activity. f. Agree to cooperate on the installation of the points.

g. Assume maintenance responsibility beyond the pilot phase if they choose to retain the point. The project obligations to the project: a. To advertise the opportunity and select the venues from the responses.

b. To install and maintain the charge points for one year.

c. Enter the sites on ZAP map and other car charging network platforms. d. Provide monthly usage statistics to the funders and venues. Data to include origin of users, use by individual consumers.

e. Remove the chargers at the end of the trial or sell these to the establishment.

f. Collate and disseminate the results of the trial.

Objectives: Help hospitality venues understand electric vehicles and how to capitalise on the opportunity. The venues will be able to see if the service has increased their business. Improve the Vale of Usk’s potential in attracting visitors with electric vehicles. Encourage further expansion and growth of electric vehicle take up by reducing ‘range anxiety’ issues. Contribute to reductions in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.

2b Please describe the objectives, benefits and priorities of your project To provide an electric car charging point to hospitality venues that are currently reluctant to invest until they have seen the benefits. Help hospitality venues understand electric vehicles and how to maximise the opportunity. The venues will be able to see if the service has increased their business. Improve the Vale of Usk’s desirability as a tourist destination. Break the cycle of too few electric cars slowing the introduction of charging points. A number of tourist and visitor venues and attractions will likely see an increase in customers during the one year trial period. We will be able to understand and disseminate how this service can benefit all hospitality venues in the Vale of Usk and beyond.

2c Why is your project needed and what evidence do you have of the need for it? (please list sources, where possible) The last three years have seen a remarkable surge in demand for electric vehicles in the UK. New registrations of plug in cars increased from 3,500 in 2013 to more than 43,000 by the end of September 2015 (Menter Mon). It’s estimated there are currently around 80,000 electric vehicles (EVs) on the road in the UK and while this remains only a tiny proportion of all cars, sales figures are rising at an increasing rate, leading many to assume a tipping point is approaching for wider deployment. Government support in the form of a £4,500 contribution to the cost of a new EV has helped build this growth, while the number of major manufacturers that have already released EV models or are developing more shows the change towards the electrification of consumer vehicles is coming.

With this comes the need for charging infrastructure, particularly as a key barrier to the further take-up of EVs rests on overcoming the ‘range anxiety’ of drivers. The general consensus is that this move is inevitable and Nissan has claimed EV charging bays will outnumber petrol stations by the summer of 2020 as surging uptake in EVs demands more significant infrastructure. Nissan expects EV charging locations to reach 7,900 by 2020 - up from the estimated 4,000 EV charging locations in the UK today, with 6,500 devices and over 11,000 individual connectors in total throughout the UK. While Nissan claims this is a conservative estimate, it has been met with agreement from

across industry, although estimates vary over the way these locations will be available. (Unlocking the

EV market).

With the evidence pointing to mass EV ownership charging points need to keep pace. The current provision of charging points in rural areas such as the Vale of Usk is low and many businesses are understandably reluctant to invest until the need and benefit has been established. To overcome this reticence, we propose this project in order to demonstrate the need and benefit for car charging points. In essence, we will be able to offer to a range of hospitality businesses the chance to test car charging points with limited risk and low cost to themselves, by offering the venue a free charger for a one year trial period. We suggest that a mix of holiday homes, restaurants, pubs, hotels, visitor attractions are selected across the region with some in rural settings and some in town settings to generate meaningful data. Dependent on overall costs public car parks will also be considered. The project will select sites, install, maintain and monitor a suitable charge point for 1 year, after which they would either pay for the unit or it would be removed.

EVs continue to account for a small fraction of the auto market, but demand is growing fast with the most recent industry figures showing more than 115 electric cars were registered every day in the first quarter of 2016, equivalent to one every 13 minutes.

Growing numbers of analysts are predicting demand for EVs could accelerate sharply in the coming years as upfront costs continue to fall and battery ranges increase to a point where it becomes more cost effective to operate a zero emission vehicle than traditional cars.

Influential analyst firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance has predicted EVs will be cheaper than conventional cars on a total cost of ownership basis by 2022 (The Guardian).

Meanwhile, a growing number of firms are investing in expanding the EV charging network to match increased demand. For example, Nissan recently teamed up with architects firm Foster + Partners to develop a conceptual vision for the EV-charging fuel station of the future, while UK start-up EV Hub recently unveiled plans for a network of UK charging stations that would also incorporate coffee shops and even fitness facilities (The Guardian).

The present Government believes that infrastructure is best planned and delivered locally by public authorities, businesses and individuals (House of Commons briefing paper Dec 2016). In April 2009 the Labour Government published its ULEV strategy. It said that there were “considerable challenges” that would have to be met “before the scale of deployment of ultra-low carbon vehicles on the UK’s roads can increase dramatically. Key to these is the need to ensure that the initial infrastructure that is required to make ultra-low carbon vehicles viable is in place. This will allow economies of scale to reduce the costs of new technologies” (DfT, Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles in the

UK, April 2009, p8). The Government’s June 2011 paper said that its approach was “not to mandate ‘a charge point on every corner’ – this is not necessary to help the market grow and would be uneconomic”. Rather: … for plug-in vehicles to appeal to, and be a viable solution for, consumers, we want recharging infrastructure to be targeted, convenient and safe. We want to see the majority of recharging taking place at home, at night, after the peak in electricity demand. Home recharging should be supported by workplace recharging for commuters and fleets, with a targeted amount of public infrastructure where it will be most used, allowing people to make the journeys they want (op cit., Making the

Connection: The Plug-In Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, executive summary). By way of background, the August 2015 research for the Government on the UK ULEV market commented that public charging was seen to have two overlapping but different roles: … meeting the needs of existing owners and addressing the concerns of potential future EV owners about buying an EV. Existing EV owners rely mostly on home and workplace charging but

consistently report a desire for more extensive – and fast – public charging to enable them to undertake longer journeys. The evidence also suggests that additional public charging infrastructure can help to address the range concerns of potential future EV owners and increase EV uptake (op cit., Uptake of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles in the UK: A Rapid Evidence Assessment for the

Department for Transport, executive summary). Research commissioned by the Government and published in August 2015 concluded that the ULEV market in the UK had undergone a “significant expansion, and in the last quarter of 2014 and first quarter of 2015 they represented over 1% of new car sales for the first time”. It found that PHEVs currently account for around two-thirds of ULEVs being sold in the UK, and battery electric vehicles a third. Further, it said that ULEVs represented a similar proportion of new car sales in the UK in 2014 as they did in the US, France and Germany, while California (3.2%) and Norway (17.8%) had two of the largest EV market shares globally (House of Commons Briefing Paper Dec 2016).

2d What feasibility/survey and planning work have you undertaken with regard to the proposed project? Please indicate if these are part of the proposed project. The project is a practical pilot scheme that has the potential to demonstrate the benefits of providing targeted charging infrastructure. It may also highlight unforeseen issues and assess the relative success of certain locations in comparison to others. It should break the cycle of too few chargers to encourage electric cars and too few electric cars to justify hospitality venues installing electric car chargers.

The ‘Zap map’ above shows the low level of charge points in south east Wales. This is a major deterrent for electric car owners visiting Wales and few electric cars means venues have no reason to install charge points, a cycle this project hopes to break. There is a lot of indication in the press that electric cars are about to become more popular. Electric car sales increased 73% in January over last year, mainly at the expense of polluting diesel vehicles. Now is an ideal time to introduce this project to hospitality venues. This increasing popularity of electric cars is due to several factors: a. Much lower running costs than fossil fuel vehicles, typically £300 instead of £3000 a year.

b. Zero tailpipe emission of pollutants such as nitrous oxide and PM 2.5 that make a huge contribution to the present high levels of town pollution.

c. A limitation at present is the range of currently available vehicles, typically 100 to 150 miles on a charge. This will soon increase to 250 miles on a charge. At this point range limitation issues will reduce and DESTINATION chargers will be the favoured charging mechanism.

d. So overnight, over lunch, during shopping or while visiting tourist attractions (e.g. Caldicot Castle) charging will become the norm. Hospitality and tourist attraction venues will be able to benefit from this shift from ROUTE charging that increases journey time to destination charging that does NOT increase journey times. ROUTE chargers are typically sited on motorway services and are intended to recharge an electric vehicle in typically half an hour. They are expensive to install and maintain. DESTINATION chargers are sited at homes and work places and may take from 2 to 8 hours to recharge a car. They are much lower cost to install and are likely to become more popular.

Hospitality businesses are understandably reluctant to spend on the service that may not result in an immediate return for them.

This project will give them a low cost low risk way to experiment with car charging.

It will improve Monmouthshire’s desirability as a tourist and visitor destination.

We will include the chargers on Zap map and other charging network maps and encourage the venues that join the scheme to include it in their websites and advertising.

All charge points should be equipped with a mode 3 safety system and will usually come with a 7 pin socket as most electric cars will have a charging cable to use these. For this project we expect to use 7 pin sockets without tethered cables or payment facilities. In terms of local support, the basis of the scheme has been raised at forums such as the Wye Valley & Forest of Dean Tourism Association and there is a definite interest with many businesses saying they would welcome the opportunity to test a charge point at their venue.

2e Does this project have links to other projects and initiatives? (please list and explain) A similar trial is being undertaken in north Wales by Menter Mon LAG. In January 2016 the Government announced four winning bids under the ‘Go Ultra Low’ scheme: London, Milton Keynes, Bristol, and Nottingham and Derby combined. For example, Bristol received £7 million to offer residents free residential parking for ULEVs, access to 3 carpool lanes in the city, over 80 rapid and fast chargers across the city and a scheme encouraging people to lease a plug-in car for up to 4 weeks to help them better understand the range of benefits that electric vehicles bring. Vehicles using hydrogen fuel cells are currently being trialled in Monmouthshire.

2f Describe how the project is innovative (see guidance for definition) and has a similar project been successfully undertaken in any other area (details, if possible)? As illustrated above electric vehicle charging points are not new and are becoming more prevalent across the UK, especially in more urban areas. Electric charging infrastructure is relatively rare within rural areas such as The Vale of Usk. A practical trial on this scale is new to the region and will provide hospitality venues with the opportunity to test and hopefully realise the benefits at little cost.

2g Are any of the Welsh Government strategies listed in the guidance notes covered by your project (please list) Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 Building Resilient Communities: Tackling Poverty Action Plan – Welsh Government Partnership for Growth – The Welsh Government Strategy for Tourism – 2013-2020 One Wales, One Planet – Welsh Government Energy Wales: A Low Carbon Transition – Welsh Government Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Strategy Future Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015

2h Who is going to benefit from your project (please explain how, with approx. numbers, if possible)

Community Members

Approximate Number benefitting

Explain how

Youth

Employed 80 This is a conservative estimate and is based on the charge points being installed at 20 hospitality businesses each employing an average four members of staff. In addition to this are the likely numbers of employed benefitting from the use of the charging points themselves.

Retired 540 Based on an estimate of 3,000 unique consumers over the one year trial period with approximately 18% of these over retirement age. This only takes account of the driver, you could add other vehicle occupiers.

Disabled 510 Based on an estimate of 3,000 unique consumers over the one year trial period with approximately 17% of these registered disabled.

Low income/unemployed

100 Electric vehicles are much more economical to run than fossil fuel vehicles, typically £300 instead of £3,000 a year. Dependant on use the savings on fuel can outweigh the cost of leasing an electric vehicle.

Other

Does your project consider the following:

(delete) Explain how

Equal opportunities for Minority Groups

YES The scheme will be made available to all via an open call process. Use of the charging points will not be restricted.

Use of the Welsh Language

YES The scheme will be promoted in both Welsh and English. Signage located at each charge point will also be bilingual.

Use of Information Communication Technology (ICT)

YES Monitoring of the charging units will be carried out online through the use of gsm metering.

Environmental Impact

YES Road transport accounts for 22% of total UK emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) a major contributor to climate change. Electric Vehicles have virtually no emissions at the point of use and are a lot quieter than petrol/diesel vehicles.

What are the economic benefits of your project?

Will your local economy benefit from the project?

YES It is likely the local economy will benefit through increased numbers of visitors with electric vehicles. It should also encourage more to make a stop ‘enroute’ to somewhere else and to spend more time in the region with likely increased spend.

Will the project lead to job creation or job safeguarded?

NO It is unlikely the project will provide additional jobs but there is a likelihood that the scheme will add value to hospitality venues and possibly safeguard jobs due to increased income from this particular market sector.

2i Please give details and supply evidence of all other sources of funding secured or being sought for the project. Is this project dependent upon finding additional funding? NO

Source of funding Amount Date of decision

N/A

Section 3: Delivering & managing your project

3a What do you hope to achieve with this project and explain when you think the key steps will be achieved? We hope to raise awareness among all the hospitality venues of the benefits of providing car charging facilities. This will result in a virtuous cycle of providing this service to visitors. We expect after this trial that no further aid will be needed to achieve an area wide electric car charging network. It is also hoped that the scheme will increase levels of electric vehicle ownership in The Vale of Usk.

Key steps and when they will be achieved:

Write the project brief with a view to publicising for interested suppliers to quote. Brief to include requirements including delivery of marketing materials, supply and installation of charging points, monitoring of use, removal of units at end of trial etc. (Week 1).

Select an appropriate supplier from those responding to the above. (Week 4).

Enter into a contract with the preferred supplier setting out parameters and terms and conditions of project. (Week 5).

Promote the opportunity to hospitality businesses via an open call. (Week 7 – 10).

Assess and select expressions of interest from businesses. (Week 11).

Agree details of installation with businesses and supplier. (Week 12 – 14).

Undertake training with host businesses. (Week 12 – 14).

Monitor usage. (Week 12 – 64).

Provide reports every 4 weeks with final detailed report and dissemination of results. (Week 65).

Remove charging points or arrange sale. (Week 64 – 68).

3b What risks have you identified that might affect your project?

Poor take up of opportunity by hospitality businesses.

Limited use of charging points once installed.

Charging points being out of use at certain periods leading to low confidence by businesses and consumers.

At popular venues consumers losing confidence due to point being frequently in use.

3c How do you intend to deal with these risks? (support may be available if you require it)

Visit possible sites to encourage take up backed up by community engagement.

Initially there will likely be low take up until consumers gain confidence and adjust to having the facility. There may need to be follow up advertising of the scheme.

The chargers will be simple basic models without online communications. This will reduce unavailability to the minimum as it will limit the risk of failures and offline events. We expect all chargers to be powered unless there was a general power cut at the host venue.

At popular venues there may be the case to have more than one charging point available. This will increase confidence in the service being available when needed as users will be less likely to be disappointed with the service if multiple chargers are available (this might apply to Caldicot Castle or town car parks for example).

3d Please submit a copy of your Group’s constitution and explain what experience members of the group might have that will be of benefit to the project. The project has been initiated by the community-led renewable energy theme sub group on behalf of the Local Action Group. The LAG is governed by the Local Development Strategy for the Vale of Usk and the associated Statement of Control. The theme sub group comprises members with extensive experience and knowledge of this subject.

Section 4: Long term impact of your project

4a What do you expect to be the next steps for this project, and how will the project be sustained following this funding? (We may be able to help you find capital funding) If funding is secured, the next steps will be to:

Write the project brief with a view to publicising for interested suppliers to quote. Brief to include requirements including delivery of marketing materials, supply and installation of charging points, monitoring of use, removal of units at end of trial etc.

Select an appropriate supplier from those responding to the above.

Enter into a contract with the preferred supplier setting out parameters and terms and conditions of project.

Promote the opportunity to hospitality businesses via an open call.

The anticipated success of the trial period should lead to many of the businesses purchasing the unit(s) and sustaining and in certain cases adding to the infrastructure. The pilot will also be publicised throughout the trial period and the results widely circulated which should lead to increased awareness in The Vale of Usk region and hence encourage increased ownership of electric vehicles and further provision of charging points by businesses.

4b How will you raise awareness of your project to your community and maintain the community interest in the future (if applicable)? The opportunity will be widely publicised using various online and offline channels. For example through press releases, relevant networks such as the community climate champions, tourist associations, social media etc. This applies to both raising awareness of the opportunity for hospitality businesses and in making individuals, groups, communities aware of the benefits. The newly installed charge points will be included on local community group’s websites as well as nationally on the zap map car charger network.

Section 5: Financial information 5.1 Project Costs (This section will be completed jointly with the project officer)

NB: These costs are estimated. Goods and services will be procured and therefore costs may be less. There is also an option to sell the units to the venues at the end of the trial thereby reducing costs further.

Cost breakdown How is this cost calculated. (Please indicate where the cost is estimated. If you are able to reclaim the VAT paid please add costs without VAT

£

Room Hire

Consultancy

Marketing & PR Promotional activity 2,000.00

Procured Services

Installation of charge points (£4,000) Monitoring costs (gsm half hourly metering, collection and presentation of statistics, final report and dissemination) (£3,000) Remove units at trial end (£2,000) Site selection process (£1,000) Agreement on location of points at each site and training costs (£2,000)

12,000.00

Purchased items <£10,000

Purchase wallpod 3 kW units with tethered cables Purchase gsm remote reading meters to monitor the usage

10,000.00

Other Costs (please list)

Total Project Cost (Do NOT include VAT if you are VAT registered)

24,000.00

Match Funding Must be a minimum of 20% of the total project cost. (Refer to Appendix 1)

Type Provide details of your sources of match funding below

£

Cash Contributions 4,800.00

In-kind funding you will provide

Total match funding

4,800.00

LEADER Funding Must be a maximum of 80% of the total project cost.

Funding Required

£19,200.00 % of total project cost (Maximum 80%)

80%

5.2 Profile of Expenditure (This section will be completed jointly with the project officer)

Type of expenditure

First Qtr. Second Qtr. Third Qtr. Fourth Qtr. Total

Marketing & PR

800.00 400.00 400.00 400.00 2,000.00

Procured Services

7,750.00 750.00 750.00 2,750.00 12,000.00

Purchased Items

10,000.00 0 0 0 10,000.00

Section 6: The Rules and Regulations 6.1 Statutory requirements and permissions

Do you require: Yes (Please tick)

No (Please tick)

Attached (Please tick)

Landlord, landowner or lease holder consent

Planning permission (Possibly required if building listed)

Building regulations

Licences

Specific permission for continued general public access

Any other statutory permission e.g. Natural Resources Wales consent etc. If yes please state:

If yes to any of the above, please provide copies of the approval documentation with this application. If “no” where appropriate please provide written confirmation from the relevant authority that permission is not needed.

6.2 Data Protection and Publicity

The information provided on this application will be used in connection with the processing of the projects application and publicising, administration, evaluation and monitoring of the LEADER programme. To progress this application we may disclose the information we receive from you to others including public bodies and other Government Departments. To publicise, administer, monitor and evaluate the programme we may also disclose information to other Groups or consultants which we consider appropriate. The project description and details, if approved, may be used in various forms of publicity for the Vale of Usk LEADER programme, including being placed on the Vale of Usk web site. We will not however disclose personal details submitted as part of this application.

6.3 Signed and confirmed on behalf of the applicant. I declare that to the best of my knowledge the factual information contained in this form is correct and complete. I understand that if I have given information that is incorrect or incomplete, the offer of any LEADER funding may be withheld and action taken against me or my Group. I also declare, unless otherwise stated in this application form, that I/the Group has not started activity or committed expenditure that relates to this project. If any information changes I will inform the Vale of Usk LAG project immediately.

Signed:

Name:

Mark Lloyd

Position:

Rural Programme Coordinator

Date:

12th April 2017

Check list:

Have you attached a copy of the group’s constitution (if applicable)

Do you need support or training for project delivery?

Do you need support finding additional funding? PLEASE RETURN TO: rdpinfo@monmouthshire.gov.uk or to the relevant officer

Appendix 1. Additional Guidance for In Kind Match Funding (extracted from Welsh Government LEADER Guidance) More detail is provided in the Application Guidance form. Contributions in kind in the form of:-

Provision of works, goods, services, land and real estate for which no cash payment has been made (must comply with ESI rules – see Leader Guidance)

Equipment and Raw Materials may be provided to a project as a form of in kind match funding but the LAG must ensure that evidence is maintained about the value of the amount committed.

Research or other professional work may be provided as a form of in kind match funding but the LAG must ensure evidence is maintained (see Leader Guidance)

Unpaid Voluntary work – Only persons acting in a wholly voluntary capacity will be eligible, signed time sheets should be maintained to support the hours claimed towards the project. Below are a list of rates provided by Welsh Government which can be applied as acceptable rates for voluntary work:

Job Title SOC Code* Hourly Rate £ Annual Rate £

Project Manager 2424 21.72 42,756

Project Researcher 2426 16.55 31,880

Project Coordinator 3539 14.94 28,944

Trainer 3563 14.26 27,775

Project Administrator 4159 10.13 19,812

* Standard Occupational Classification