Construction begins on electric HGV charging hub in Port of Tilbury

Fleet charging solution provider Fleete has started construction on a dedicated commercial vehicle charging hub in the Port of Tilbury.

The project, which should be completed in December, is the first works funded by the UK Government under the Thames Freeport seed capital programme, which advances clean energy technology crucial to the Port of Tilbury’s drive toward net zero.

The £1 million in funding awarded to Fleete supports the development of a five megawatt charging station that can charge 16 electric HGVs at the same time.

It features 12 ultra-fast chargers, supplied by Heliox, capable of delivering up to 360kW of power, and four chargers via the Voltempo Hypercharging Megawatt Charging System funded through the eFreight 2030 project.

Chris Morrison, chief investment officer at Fleete, said: “We are delighted to begin work on the first of our network of shared electric HGV charging hubs throughout the UK.

“Our close collaboration with the Port of Tilbury, along with significant funding from Thames Freeport, is a testament to their commitment to accelerating the shift to zero-emission fleets with this critical infrastructure development.

“This investment is a crucial step in building a net-zero logistics ecosystem and ensuring that the businesses in and around the Port of Tilbury have the resources they need to transition to cleaner transport alternatives.”

Around 6,000 HGVs pass through the port of Tilbury each day.

The Port of Tilbury facility is the latest in a number of commercial vehicle charging infrastructure being rolled out across the UK.

At the beginning of the month, it was announced a new national network of charging stations for eHGVs would be built, with the first 15 ‘superhubs’ to be opened by the end of 2027.

Motorway services operator Moto plans to install up to 300 charging bays for eHGVs at 23 strategic locations by 2030.

Also earlier this month, Innovate UK confirmed the locations for a new network of 54 eHGV charging hubs across the UK, while Milence opened its first UK eHGV charging hub in Immingham.