Pod Point secures finance to support EV charging points roll-out
Triodos Bank UK has provided its first finance to support the development of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure with a loan to Pod Point, one of the UK's largest providers of electric vehicle charging.
Driven by the belief that travel shouldn’t damage the earth, Pod Point is pioneering electric mobility by building a network of smart EV charging points that are easily accessible for drivers.
Alongside funding from Tesco and Volkswagen, the debt facility will help hundreds of EV charge points to be supplied, operated and maintained by Pod Point at 600 Tesco stores. The new points will include 7kW media chargers capable of displaying advertising on a screen, from which customers will be able to charge for free. Some sites will also have 50kW rapid chargers priced in line with market rates.
The Pod Point partnership with Tesco and Volkswagen, announced in 2018, effectively created a new, sponsorship-based business model for EV charging. Tesco itself has set a goal to increase its business-wide energy sourcing from 65% renewables in 2020 to 100% in 2030, as part of its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint.
By supporting the transition towards the decarbonisation of transport, this lending from Triodos, Europe’s leading sustainable bank, is firmly aligned to the bank’s mission to deliver positive environmental impact and address the climate emergency.
Erik Fairbairn, Pod Point CEO & founder, said: “We are witnessing a pivotal moment for the UK’s rapidly expanding public charging network. Through our partnership with Tesco and Volkswagen we are rolling out smart, easy-to-use chargepoints at a scale that is going to accelerate EV adoption in ways we haven’t seen before and make it easier than ever for drivers to go electric. In Triodos, we’ve found a bank that shares our vision of a world where travel doesn’t damage the earth and who can help us achieve our mission to put a chargepoint everywhere you park.”
Philip Bazin, head of the environment team at Triodos Bank UK, said: “Given our focus on sustainable and responsible finance, it is fundamental to Triodos to support projects, such as charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, which help us transition to a low-carbon, clean future. The transport sector now has the highest greenhouse gas emissions of any industry in the UK, with passenger car road transport accounting for over 50% of these emissions. We need the vision and capabilities of pioneering companies like Pod Point and mainstream businesses like Tesco wanting to deliver the change in our transport infrastructure that we need to see.”
Energy company EDF recently acquired a majority stake in Pod Point, as part of a newly formed joint venture with Legal & General Capital. EDF’s ambition is to become Europe’s leading e-mobility energy company by 2022.
EDF already offers one of the most competitive low-carbon electric vehicle tariffs, ‘Go Electric’, which gives people the chance to lease an electric vehicle while getting lower off-peak electricity rates. With the acquisition of Pod Point, it will be able to provide further charging solutions to a wider audience.
Triodos has long been committed to financing renewable energy, which is the European group’s largest portfolio, with a total exposure of €2.25 billion at the end of 2018. This new lending facility is part of its ongoing strategy to broaden its financing focus from mainly renewable energy generation projects to supporting the transition towards 100% smart clean energy systems, the wider decarbonisation of our economy and protecting and enhancing our natural capital.
Legal advisers on the transaction were TLT LLP. Everoze Partners Limited acted as technical adviser.
Notes to editor
About Triodos Bank
Founded in 1980, Triodos Bank has become a frontrunner in sustainable banking globally. As an independent bank that promotes responsible and transparent banking, it does not see any conflict between a focus on people and the planet and a good financial return. Instead it believes that they reinforce each other in the long-term.
Triodos Bank has banking activities in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Spain, Germany and France as well as Investment Management activities based in the Netherlands but active globally. Triodos Bank co-founded the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), a network of 54 sustainable banks. Together these banks want to grow sustainable banking and its impact on the real economy substantially.
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About Pod Point
Pod Point was founded in 2009 by CEO and entrepreneur Erik Fairbairn. Driven by a belief that travel shouldn’t damage the earth, Pod Point has more than 69,000 charge points in the UK and Norway and is an official charge point supplier for major car brands in both countries.
Pod Point’s products range from smart domestic charge points to 150kW high power rapid chargers and load balancing systems. Along with consumers, it works with a broad range of organisations to offer workplace, residential and commercial charging solutions. Its customers include major retailers, hotels, restaurants and transport hubs.
For more information on Pod Point’s vision for zero-carbon travel visit:
For more information
Megan Johnson
External Communications Manager – Customers
megan.johnson@edfenergy.com
About EDF
EDF is helping Britain achieve Net Zero by leading the transition to a cleaner, low emission, electric future and tackling climate change. It is the UK’s largest producer of low-carbon electricity(1) and supplies millions of customers with electricity and gas.
It generates low carbon electricity from five nuclear power stations and more than thirty onshore wind farms and two offshore wind farms.
EDF is leading the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C, and there are advanced plans for a replica at Sizewell C in Suffolk. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes.
EDF is one of the UK’s largest investors in renewables, with more than 1.5GW of renewable generation in operation and almost 14GW in planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage. We are constructing our largest offshore wind farm in Britain – the 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe project in Scotland.
EDF is helping its customers, both in business and at home, take their first steps to sustainably powering their lives. Whether it is buying an electric car, generating and storing electricity, selling energy back to the grid or installing a heat pump. EDF is one of the largest suppliers to British business and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. In addition, the company’s energy services business, Dalkia, is one of the largest technical service providers in the UK and Ireland.
EDF is part of EDF Group, the world’s biggest electricity generator. In the UK, the company employs around 14,000 people at locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
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