By John CampbellBBC News NI economics and business editor
34 minutes ago
image source, Getty Images
An investment firm has bought a significant stake in Weev, a company developing an electric car charging network in Northern Ireland.
Weev said the deal would allow them to increase the scale of their plans.
The investor is the Octopus Group, best known as one of Britain’s largest energy suppliers.
It also has an investment arm that focuses on renewable energy and infrastructure projects.
The deal with Weev is the first investment for the Octopus Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (OSIF); a fund backed by the UK Infrastructure Bank.
Weev was founded last year by Northern Irish businessmen Dominic Kearns and Thomas O’Hagan with the aim of creating Northern Ireland’s largest private electric vehicle (EV) charging network.
Fast charging hubs
Philip Rainey, Weev’s CEO, said the deal would enable “a major expansion of the size and scope of the rollout we announced at launch last year.”
“We can now focus more on providing faster and ultra-fast charging hubs,” he added.
Lukasz Michalak, director of investment at Octopus, said the OSIF aims to “invest growth capital in sustainable infrastructure companies that tackle climate change and support leveling ambitions in the UK”.
“Weev is the perfect example of the next generation of infrastructure companies doing just that,” he continued.
Northern Ireland currently has the lowest rates for public electric car charging devices in the UK.
Data from the UK Department of Transport showed there were 19 charging devices per 100,000 people.
