ScottishPower has announced plans to work with tourist attractions across the country to create a new electric tourist trail of public charge points. Glasgow Science Centre joins the green energy firm’s Whitelee Windfarm as the first major attractions to join this network of electric charging hubs.

Glasgow Science Centre has reached a major milestone with over 25,000 electric vehicle miles being charged by visitors at the leading tourist attraction – the equivalent to a journey around the world.

As part of its work to protect the planet, Glasgow Science Centre partnered with ScottishPower to install the electric vehicle chargers ahead of COP26 in 2021. The chargers have remained available to members of the public when they visit the Glasgow attraction as a lasting legacy of the conference. 

The addition has also contributed to Glasgow Science Centre being awarded Green Key status, the first visitor attraction in Scotland and first science centre in the UK to receive the prestigious accolade which recognises excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry.

This project is part of ScottishPower’s sustainability goal to provide two million electric vehicle charging points needed to meet the needs of Scotland’s future electric vehicle charging network. Major tourist attractions play an essential role in supporting these goals by providing families with convenience during their everyday activities.

Installing electric vehicle chargers supports Glasgow Science Centre’s aims to maximise sustainability across all their business operations, prioritising energy and travel to work as part of a complete circular economy. 

In just 14 months, Glasgow Science Centre has achieved the 25,000 electric vehicle miles milestone. This is a major step as it continues its work to decarbonise operations and encourage visitors to reduce their own carbon footprint.

Dr Stephen Breslin, Chief Executive of Glasgow Science Centre, highlighted the benefits that the chargers have brought to visitors, saying: “It’s great that visitors are using our electric vehicle chargers and with over 25,000 vehicle miles charged, it shows the progress we have made in our sustainability goals. 

We wanted to provide convenient electric vehicle charging while also inspiring our visitors to learn about the technology and science that will help tackle climate change. 

We’re grateful to ScottishPower for the continued support in our efforts to become an even greener visitor attraction and learning centre. We want to continue the efforts initiated by the conference and build on its legacy.”

Andrew Mouat, Head of Smart Mobility at ScottishPower, said: “Glasgow Science Centre was an early adopter of electric car chargers and today tourist attractions across the country have this brilliant technology in place. Charging an electric car is becoming part of everyday life for many people and that’s great for the plant.

Building a new electric tourist trail of public charge points should make this process even easier. We need to continue expanding our network to cater for the huge number of people switching to more sustainable electric vehicles and are here to support suitable businesses that want to make the switch and join us.”