(Bloomberg) — Shell Plc targets a 10-fold jump in electric-vehicle charging points in the UK as part of plans to ramp up investments into cleaner energy.
The company will install 100,000 chargers in the country by 2030, according to a statement on Tuesday. It’s the latest move by an oil and gas major to refocus its traditional business as investors, governments and consumers call for greater efforts to combat climate change.
Shell plans to invest as much as £25 billion ($31 billion) in Britain’s energy system over the next decade, three-quarters of which will be directed toward low-carbon products and services, and the remainder on oil and gas in the North Sea. It has been bulking up its EV network after buying Ubitricity last year, and aims to have 2.5 million charging points globally by 2030.
“Access to public charging needs to be made available to everyone, no matter where you live,” Shell’s UK Country Chair David Bunch said in the statement.
The announcement follows a recent pledge by the British government to increase the number of public charging points to 300,000 by 2030. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration is seeking to phase out gasoline and diesel-burning cars, the sale of which will be banned from then on.
“It’s crucial that government and industry join forces on this transition,” Transport Minister Grant Shapps said in a separate statement. “This step forward supports the government’s recently published £1.6 billion Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy where we committed to making the charging network more affordable and accessible.”
(Updates with minister’s comments in final paragraph.)
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