IN Brief:
- Zest will deliver more than 1,000 public chargepoints across three Hertfordshire districts.
- The programme includes £1.8 million from the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund.
- Zest will fund, install, operate, and maintain the equipment for 15 years.
Zest is preparing to install more than 1,000 public electric vehicle chargepoints across North Hertfordshire, St Albans, and Welwyn Hatfield.
The programme is supported by £1.8 million from the UK Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund and additional private investment from Zest. Initial work is expected to begin later in 2026, subject to the remaining contractual and delivery arrangements.
Zest will fund, install, operate, and maintain the charging network for 15 years. The concession structure places long term equipment operation and service support with the chargepoint operator rather than separating installation from ongoing maintenance.
Hertfordshire County Council selected Zest as one of three operators for the wider county rollout. Locations will be developed with the participating district authorities, taking account of parking demand, access to off street charging, electrical capacity, street layout, and local consultation.
On street programmes involve a large number of relatively small electrical installations rather than one high capacity hub. Each location requires a suitable supply, protective equipment, feeder arrangement, communications connection, bay layout, signage, and coordination with existing utilities.
Civil conditions can be as influential as the charger specification. Footway width, buried services, drainage, tree roots, lighting columns, accessibility, road markings, and parking restrictions determine whether a proposed position can be constructed and operated safely.
Connection work must also be sequenced with distribution network and metering processes. Equipment may be physically installed before the supply, meter, communications, and back office systems are ready, so completion should be measured when the charger becomes usable.
Long concessions shift attention towards asset performance
A 15 year operating term creates a different commercial model from a conventional installation contract. Capital expenditure is recovered over many charging sessions, placing utilisation, tariffs, uptime, maintenance, and customer support at the centre of project economics.
Equipment installed during the first phases may need replacement or major refurbishment before the concession ends. Power electronics, contactors, cables, sockets, displays, payment terminals, and communications hardware operate outdoors and remain exposed to weather, accidental damage, vandalism, and repeated physical use.
Software systems are likely to change faster than the electrical equipment. Payment standards, roaming arrangements, cybersecurity requirements, communications networks, smart charging functions, and accessibility expectations will develop throughout the operating period.
The network must therefore support upgrades without forcing wholesale replacement of every installed asset. Open interfaces, documented communications, and clear ownership of operational data can reduce dependence on obsolete platforms.
Load management can lower the connection capacity required at grouped installations. Several chargepoints may share one supply, with available power allocated according to occupancy and demand.
Residential charging generally permits longer sessions than motorway or rapid hub use, allowing lower power managed charging to serve many streets. Local network constraints still apply, particularly where chargers add sustained evening and overnight demand to circuits already carrying domestic loads, electric heating, and solar exports.
Distribution network assessment needs to consider the cumulative programme rather than each unit in isolation. Several modest connections on one feeder can create a material demand increase even where no single installation appears significant.
Street charging also intersects with parking policy. A bay can be electrically available but poorly used if restrictions, pricing, enforcement, or physical access discourage drivers, while high demand can create pressure for expansion before the original civil and electrical design allowed for it.
The UK’s on street network is moving from local pilots into larger operating estates, with Char.gy passing 5,000 public chargepoints as operators build sufficient scale to support dedicated maintenance, software, and customer service functions.
Scale creates operational advantages but also concentrates responsibility. A fault platform must identify outages quickly, distinguish electrical failures from payment or communications problems, and dispatch the appropriate field resource.
Spare parts planning becomes more complicated when several charger generations or manufacturers coexist. Standardising equipment can simplify maintenance, although procurement flexibility may be needed as hardware and regulations evolve.
Data from the installed network can guide later phases. Session length, energy delivered, occupancy, failed payment attempts, maximum demand, and fault frequency will show whether locations are correctly sized and whether additional bays or different charger ratings are required.
The private investment component reduces the immediate public capital requirement, but the concession still needs enforceable standards covering availability, repair times, tariff transparency, reporting, accessibility, and end of term asset responsibilities.
More than 1,000 chargepoints will create a substantial distributed electrical estate across the three districts. Its performance will be determined by location quality, connection delivery, equipment reliability, software support, and maintenance over the full 15 year term.
