����ý

An investment company has bought a significant stake in Weev, a firm which is 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, which is best known as one of the largest energy suppliers in Great Britain.

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 set up by Northern Ireland businessmen Dominic Kearns and Thomas O'Hagan last year with the aim of creating Northern Ireland's largest privately operated electric vehicle (EV) charging network.

Rapid charging hubs

Philip Rainey, the chief executive of Weev, said the deal would enable "a major expansion to the size and scope of the rollout we announced at launch last year".

"We can now increase our focus on providing more rapid and ultra-rapid charging hubs," he added.

Lukasz Michalak, investment director at Octopus, said the OSIF is focused on "investing growth capital into sustainable infrastructure businesses tackling climate change and supporting levelling-up ambitions across 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 of public charging devices for EVs in the UK.

Data released from the UK's Department for Transport found there were 19 charging devices per 100,000 people.

Earlier this year, ESB said it would start charging for the use of its chargers as part of plan to upgrade the service.