Essex County Council has tendered an electric vehicle charging infrastructure contract worth a potential £633m over 16 years.
Successful suppliers will contribute to the creation of an integrated electric vehicle (EV) charge point network across Essex, with a minimum of 5,000 sockets available for public use to aid people without access to off-street parking.
The deals will run from 6 February 2026 to 5 February 2041 with a possible extension to 5 February 2042, which brings the total contract length to 16 years.
The contract is split into four lots, but a supplier can only be appointed to a maximum of two. If one supplier is calculated as the top bidder for more than two lots, it will have to inform the council which lot it wishes to withdraw from.
The four lots are:
- Lot 1: Street Furniture Charge Points (On-Street Sites) – estimated value of £184m
- Lot 2: Street Furniture Charge Points (On-Street Sites) – estimated value of £184m
- Lot 3: 'Flush to the Floor' Charge Points (On-Street Sites) – estimated value of £115m
- Lot 4: Multi-Socket Street Furniture Charge Points (On-Street and Off-Street Third-Party Sites) – estimated value of £150m
Part of the funding for this contract comes from £8.3m that has been pre-allocated to Essex CC under the Local Electric Vehicle (LEVI) fund, which is designed to increase the number of on-street low-powered charge points in residential areas.
Essex CC is specifically looking for the provision of three different types of technology:
- Furniture Charge Points (minimum 1 Socket)
- Multi-Socket Street Furniture Charge Points (minimum 2 Sockets)
- 'Flush to the Floor' Charge Points (minimum 1 Socket)
The enquiry deadline for the contract is 3 October, with requests to participate due by 10 October. Following this, a maximum of seven suppliers per lot will be invited to submit tenders, with the awards expected to be announced on 1 February 2026.
More information on the contract and how to apply can be found here.
Image credit: I Wei Huang / Shutterstock
