SPAIN. Barcelona inaugurates a charging station for electric cars that uses energy recovered from metro braking

AMB

This week, the first charging station in Spain powered by energy recovered from the braking of the metro was inaugurated in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. The Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) and the City Council of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat have participated in this project.

A member of the European MetroCHARGE programme, this fast station has been financed with NextGenerationEU funds. It is located on Rambla de la Marina, next to the Bellvitge metro stop. A further six will be added later, which will be located in several municipalities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. All of them will be located near metro stations.

The MetroCHARGE charging stations will have two 50 kW points, which in turn will have three connectors. The electricity supply will come exclusively from the energy recovered during the braking processes of the trains, as well as from a series of photovoltaic panels. Therefore, all seven locations will be self-sustaining.

Three of the stations will be located in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Carrer de l'Estronci, next to the Can Boixeres stop; car park at the Santa Eulàlia stop; and the aforementioned one on the Rambla de la Marina), while the others will be distributed in Sant Adrià de Besòs (Carrer de Alarcón, next to the Verneda stop). Cornellà de Llobregat (Avinguda de la República Argentina, next to the Sant Ildefons stop), Badalona (Avinguda del Marqués de Mont-Roig, next to the Gorg stop) and Santa Coloma de Gramenet (Calle Sagarra, near the Santa Coloma stop).

AMB

The metro recovers about 14 GWh per year

The different MetroCHARGE points will be integrated into the metropolitan network of charging stations. In order to use them, users must register on the AMB Electrolineres app. Depending on the connector used, the maximum usage time will be 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours. To start the loading process, you must use the app itself. The rates will be as follows: 0.30 euros/kWh, as well as 0.399 euros/minute for excess time after a half-hour session.

“The fact that charging stations can operate with surplus energy from the metro is an important step forward for more sustainable and cleaner mobility in the metropolis of Barcelona. This is great news for the decarbonised cities we want, those of the present and those of the future,” said AMB's Vice President for Mobility, Transport and Sustainability, Carlos Cordón, during the opening ceremony.

The CEO of TMB, Xavier Flores, adds that “TMB is committed to energy efficiency and is implementing a plan with different measures, such as the decarbonisation of the bus fleet or the installation of these energy recoverers from the braking of trains. The metro recovers about 14 GWh per year, the equivalent of 5.5% of the total energy consumption of the network.”