- The company offers municipalities and operators comprehensive support and a 360º solution on their way to sustainable mobility.
- The electric bus stands out as the most sustainable, efficient and economical techonological solution for mass transport of people in cities
As part of its Sustainable Mobility Plan
External link, opens in new window. , Iberdrola is committed to the electric bus in order to achieve more sustainable cities. The company thus intensifies its commitment to the environment and its fight against climate change, reinforcing its leadership towards sustainable mobility and the electrification of transport.
With the projects already implemented and under development, Iberdrola will facilitate the daily recharging of more than 380 electric buses on the Iberian Peninsula and expects to continue helping to electrify more buses in the coming months.
Among the urban transport electrification projects that the company is carrying out, we can highlight the actions in Madrid (EMTExternal link, opens in new window. , Carabanchel operations centre), Valladolid (Auvasa), Alcorcón (Arriva), Algeciras (Algesa), Elche (Avanza), Pamplona (TCC), Braga (TUB), Alicante (Vectalia), among others.
In total, there are more than 380 charging points with power ratings ranging mainly from 100 kW to 180 kW. In addition, the company will also install 204 pantographs, 52 of which are already operational at the EMT's Carabanchel operations centre and prepared to support loads of up to 450 kW.
On the other hand, most of the projects are associated with the Smart Charging system, which allows optimising the recharging of the fleet by prioritising operational efficiency, for example by recharging at the hours when energy costs are lowest or by coordinating the chargers to use as little total power as possible.
Outside Spain, in Braga (Portugal) the company will develop 32 150 kW charging points and its smart charging service; and in the United Kingdom the first 4 charging points associated with electric buses have already been installed.
"Iberdrola has been a leader in sustainable mobility for years, promoting the development of policies and specific actions to mobilise all stakeholders: government, companies, car manufacturers... This commitment to the electric bus is another step on its path towards the energy transition," says Raquel Blanco, Global Director of Smart Mobility.
Comprehensive support and 360° solutions
Iberdrola offers municipalities and operators comprehensive support and a 360º solution on their path towards sustainable mobility. The company's services cover the different phases that a mobility operator considers before taking the step towards electrification.
It starts with a feasibility analysis and action plan where the company collects the information shared by the operator and makes an estimated budget of the necessary investment, which also considers the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the electric buses with their associated infrastructure, to compare it with other technologies.
This step allows the risks and the technical and economic viability of the project to be known. The company's requirements include ensuring sufficient network capacity to service the new bus recharging station.
Turnkey projects are then proposed for the electrification of depots with the most efficient electrical infrastructure, including, if necessary, solar self-consumption installations. At the same time, Iberdrola also advises on the different aid alternatives to reduce the impact of the investment.
The energy company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán also offers the operator a long-term supply of renewable energy, which allows it to ensure its operations and that the total acquisition cost is the most attractive of all existing technologies.
Finally, Iberdrola proposes the optimisation of the control centre with advanced platform services for smart bus recharging, always prioritising the efficiency of the operation. For example, supported by artificial intelligence, it searches for the lowest cost recharging periods, always using the minimum total power required.
The electric bus is the most efficient, sustainable and economical solution
The company has been collaborating for some time with city councils and operators to help them on their journey towards emission-free mobility, and trusts the electric bus as the most sustainable, efficient and economical technological solution for mass transport of people in cities.
Specifically, the electric bus with 100% renewable energy has an efficiency of 77% from generation to final consumption (Well to Wheel), while other technologies such as gas only have an efficiency of 27%, diesel 34% and green hydrogen, which is also emission-free, is around 31%.
For its part, the total cost of purchasing an electric bus is already lower than other technologies and the cost of operation can in some cases be up to 80% lower than that of conventional fuels. Moreover, the TCO will become even more attractive in the coming years, with new European regulations such as the inclusion of transport in the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from 2027.
Leader in mobility
Iberdrola has extensive experience in the transition to electric vehicles and is implementing a sustainable mobility plan, with which it will intensify the rollout of charging points for electric vehicles to 110,000 in the coming years.
It currently has more than 3,500 charging points in operation and another 2,000 already installed pending legalisation, most of which are high-powered and spread over more than 1,600 locations.
In the case of cities, the company is also committed to the development of urban charging hubs to provide certainty and security of availability to consumers who make the switch to electric vehicles but do not have a parking space.
