A few weeks ago, Mobility Portal España announced to the eMobility sector the arrival of a new public tender to install 36 electric vehicle charging stations in the city of Ibiza.
In this context, Rubén Sousa, the Councillor for Smart City and Public Transport of the Ibiza City Council, anticipates: “They are finalising the specifications for its launch, expected around June.”
The aim is to expand the network to 60 charging points, which will complement the existing 24.
One tender will be for fast charging in commercial areas and urban zones.
Meanwhile, the other will be for slow charging to be installed in residential neighbourhoods, as part of the Electric Mobility Network of the Balearic Islands (Melib).
The 36 new chargers will be distributed throughout the city, so the most suitable charging type for each neighbourhood is being evaluated.
Given that the free Melib service system has not performed as expected, the new concessions will be paid.
Thus, the provider will make the investment and manage the electric chargers, with the user paying the installer, who will in turn keep that payment.
“We hope the new charging points will be operational by the end of this year or early 2025,” he details.
What are the challenges associated with this deployment?
Firstly, Ibiza’s electrical infrastructure is not currently equipped to support the charging of numerous electric chargers.
Therefore, sectoral compensation is planned to avoid overloading the electrical grid.
“So it won’t be an easy task,” Sousa assures.
The second aspect addressed is linked to the complexity of a location like the island, where it is not possible to install electric chargers anywhere.
For example, available sidewalk spaces do not allow for indiscriminate placement of charging points.
This phenomenon results in “the demand for electric vehicles exceeding the administration’s capacity to implement charging points.”
According to registration figures published by the Spanish Association of Automobile and Truck Manufacturers (ANFAC), in 2023, the Balearic Islands recorded the sale of 2,971 fully electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, 4,832 units corresponded to cars with hybrid propulsion systems.
Currently, many of the Melib network chargers installed on the island are not operational, posing an inconvenience for electric vehicle users.
In this context, the concession aims to provide coverage to the municipality’s neighbourhoods and promote the use of zero-emission cars.
Where can the tender document be accessed?
“The public tender will be published on the State’s website platform, allowing participation from all interested parties,” informs the Councillor for Smart City and Public Transport of the Ibiza City Council.
The Municipality of Ibiza is investing in an autonomous bus pilot project
According to Sousa, the municipality is carrying out a pilot project with autonomous electric buses, with the aim of implementing them in the city in the future.
Currently, this project is in the study phase, as in Spain, this type of vehicles are not yet approved for circulation.
According to ANFAC, in the heavy vehicle sector, automation is less advanced in terms of potential SAE level compared to light vehicles.
The level ranges between 2.3 and 2.8 out of 5 for industrial vehicles and buses, respectively. In the case of industrial vehicles, the predominant potential capabilities are SAE 0 and SAE 1 (44.2 per cent), while in buses, the most common correspond to levels of automation of SAE 2 and SAE 3 (60.2 per cent).
