A firm generating power from wind farms off the north Kent coast is to install electric vehicle (EV) charging points across a district.

Swedish company Vattenfall will be behind 12 EV points installed across the Canterbury area.

The power will be generated from its Kent Flats and Kentish Flats Extension wind farms, sited off the coast of Whitstable and Herne Bay.

The Canterbury district has seen a sharp rise in take-up of electric vehicles over the last year.

From October 2017 to September 2018, the number of registered plug-in vehicles in the area increased by 47%.

The latest Department for Transport statistics show the number of registered electric or plug-in hybrid cars, vans and micro cars called quadricycles in Canterbury for each quarter of the year.

From July 2017 to September 2017 there were 186 electric vehicles.

However by the latest quarter, from July to September 2018, that figure had grown to 273, a jump of 87.

The new charging points follow a deal with Canterbury City Council signed last month.

Working with BMM Energy Solutions, Vattenfall will start installation of its InCharge technology in a number of city centre car parks this month.

Cllr Simon Cook, leader of Canterbury City Council and chairman of its policy and resources committee, said: “The installation of these first EV charging points is an important first step in the journey to provide the infrastructure that will deliver cleaner air for the district.

“They were one of a raft of measures contained in the air quality action plan approved by councillors at the end of last year.

“The plan signalled our determination that the council should do everything it can to improve air quality in those areas under its direct control while working with others to encourage them to do the same.

“Our partnership with Vattenfall means motorists driving cleaner and greener electric cars will find life that little bit easier while being powered by renewable energy.”

One electric vehicle charging point capable of charging two cars each will be installed in Pound Lane, St Radigunds and Watling Street car parks in Canterbury and have been paid for by a £19,000 grant from the government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).

Other points be in Central Parade, Herne Bay; Sea Street, Gladstone Road, Cromwell Road and Nelson Road in Whitstable; and Westgate Hall Road, Queens Avenue, North Holmes Road and Beverley Road in Canterbury.

These charging points are set to be paid for by a £53,214 grant from OLEV and a contribution from Vattenfall/BMM.

Anthony Hinde, Vattenfall’s managing director for InCharge in the UK, said: “It’s great to forge this partnership with Canterbury City Council especially as the power supplied to the sockets will be ‘sourced’ from Vattenfall’s British wind farms including those off the Kent coast.

“This is an important step in helping people live free from fossil fuels.”