ChargePlace Scotland
Every charger on the national network has to move to a new operator, and the owners’ deadline is 31 December 2026. Argyll finds an operator to take yours on and, where a unit is too old to move, supports the grant application for its replacement.
ChargePlace Scotland is the public charging network Transport Scotland set up. It is winding down, and every charger on it has to move to a new operator: the company whose system takes payment and shows the charger on a public map. Arranging the move is the owner’s job, and the owners’ deadline is 31 December 2026, with staged deadlines through the year.
The move takes up to about three months once the units are confirmed and an operator appointed, and longer at remote sites. A host who has not appointed an operator by the end of September has little room to spare.
When the old system ends, a charger with no new operator keeps giving out electricity, with nobody paying for it but the owner. Energy Saving Trust calls this free vend.
The operators taking on ChargePlace Scotland chargers need them to run OCPP 1.6 or later, the protocol a charger uses to talk to its operator. A unit on OCPP 1.5 cannot move at all: it has to be replaced, retired, or left giving electricity away.
At a glance
The ChargePlace Scotland Transition Fund, run by Energy Saving Trust for Transport Scotland, pays in full for a like-for-like replacement, up to a cap per unit: from £15,000 for a charger up to 22 kW to £60,000 for a rapid charger of 125 to 350 kW.
It is for public ChargePlace Scotland units that are at least five years old or on OCPP 1.5, in rural areas (urban rural classes 5 to 8) or where there are three or fewer public chargers within five miles, that were not funded under the Contactless Compliance Grant, and whose owner had not already signed with a new operator before 13 July 2026.
Transport Scotland identified the eligible units, and Energy Saving Trust says it has contacted every eligible owner.
The process
Under a letter of authority you sign. Argyll’s fee is paid by the operator, not by you.
One page, for the move. It lets Argyll look into your chargers and speak to operators for you. Energy Saving Trust will only discuss your application with us once you have told them in writing, so the letter comes with the email to send.
Their age, OCPP version and place decide whether each can move as it is or needs replacing, and whether the Transition Fund applies.
From operators prepared to take the site on. Some fund and run the charger and share the income, some lease the space, some supply the system while you keep the charger. Their terms are in writing before you sign anything.
Where a unit needs replacing, the application is yours, made with the operator’s commitment in hand. We prepare it with you.
The operator and ChargePlace Scotland test the unit on its new system and switch it over, before 31 December 2026.
Rural and Island Infrastructure Fund
The Transition Fund replaces a charger; the Rural and Island Infrastructure Fund pays only for new ones, never to replace, repair or upgrade a charger already there. So a rural or island host moving off ChargePlace Scotland can add more chargers under it at the same time, with 75 to 100 per cent of the eligible cost covered, up to a cap per charger.
Check the postcodeGet in touch
Send the charger IDs if you have them, or the site’s postcode. We reply within one working day.