Maritime plan for Felixstowe electric charging hub gets £50,000 boost from Freeport East

The hub could be operational by 2028, subject to planning and technical development, and would be open to hauliers, logistics operators and other commercial vehicle users.

The site could also support vehicles serving major infrastructure projects in the Freeport East region, including the Sizewell C nuclear power project.

The funding from Freeport East, which was revealed this week, will help Maritime take the project into its next stage, including technical assessments and preparatory work towards a planning application to East Suffolk Council. Further funding could be provided as the project progresses.

The proposed charging hub forms part of Maritime’s wider Maritime ZERO decarbonisation strategy and would support Freeport East’s Green Freight Corridor initiative, which aims to reduce emissions from freight movements between the region and the East Midlands.

The scale of the potential facility reflects the significant volume of road freight moving through Felixstowe. More than 5,000 HGV journeys are made to and from the port each day, although only a small proportion are currently undertaken by electric vehicles.

Tom Williams, deputy CEO at Maritime Transport, said the funding would allow the company to assess the feasibility of developing a large-scale charging facility.

“This funding allows us to take the next step in assessing what a full-scale, open-access eHGV charging facility in Felixstowe could look like,” he said.

“We’re working closely with our specialist infrastructure partners and with Freeport East to test the case for the site, and we’re encouraged by the progress so far.”

Steve Beel, CEO at Freeport East, said reliable, high-capacity charging infrastructure would be critical to the decarbonisation of freight in the region.

He said: “Decarbonising freight is one of the biggest challenges facing logistics in our region, and access to reliable and high-capacity charging infrastructure is a critical part of the solution.

The proposed hub would provide infrastructure for operators moving freight through one of the UK’s busiest container port areas, while supporting the transition to zero-emission HGVs.

Maritime and Freeport East are now seeking to engage with hauliers, logistics operators and other potential users as the project develops.

Freeport East is one of 12 designated freeports in the United Kingdom. It covers over a thousand square kilometres in total, stretching from Felixstowe and Harwich down through Clacton and Jaywick, out around Colchester and Sudbury, Stowmarket and Woodbridge.