Be prepared—for electric

LOOKING to the future, Oxford is installing electricity hook-ups for boats on the Oxford Canal in the city.

In February up to six boats will be able to connect to the grid to charge their batteries, Janet Friend reports.

Visiting boats

Oxford City Council tells the scheme is aimed to offer visiting boats an alternative to using diesel engines, generators and wood burners in order to reduce pollution and improve air quality.

The council together with Canal & River Trust were awarded £193,000 from the government's annual air quality grant scheme to install the Eco-moorings for visiting boats.

The sockets are powerful enough to charge electric propulsion boats (e-boats) that require more power than diesel powered boats.

The council added that if there was an increase in demand for the sockets to be used by e-boats, all sockets could be converted to the more powerful 32amp to allow for faster charging.

Restrictions

There are restrictions on open fires and wood burners in Oxford. that came into force on 1st December.

Though there are fines of up to £300 for anyone found flouting the rules of the smoke control area, however, moored narrowboats are exempt from the rules.