Valencia moves closer to its carbon-free objective

TWENTY-TWO new charging points for electric vehicles were put into operation yesterday in Valencia as part of the city’s commitment to become carbon-free by 2030.

The Humble Lamp Post project as it is known due to the charging points being located on lamp posts and solar gazebos, is the first of its kind in Spain, with a total cost of €30,000, of which €18,000 is financed by the European Commission.

Valencia mayor, Joan Ribó, visited the points on Wednesday accompanied by Luisa Notario, councillor for Resource Management.

Ribó said: “It’s a system with many advantages and which represents a fundamental step forward towards our commitment of making Valencia a carbon-free city by 2030.

“To move from a system of combustion engines to an electric system is fundamental to decarbonize cities; the first thing we have to do is change our ways of getting about, and town and city councils have to work to put in the necessary infrastructures so that anyone who buys an electric vehicle can move about freely knowing there will be a system of charging points, not just in their home but in any part of the city,”

The lamp posts and solar gazebos are ideal locations for the charging points as they have the advantage of already being hooked up to the electricity network.

Luisa Notario explained: “Valencia is the first city where this type of charger has been installed, taking advantage of the electrical connection.” She said that the system is up and running in other countries like the Netherlands, but added: “In 2015 Valencia began making public lighting efficient and sustainable and now it will also be intelligent as it will not only provide light during the hours of darkness but also offer other possibilities like charging electric cars.”

Where are the charging points?

The charging points are located in calle Amadeu de Savoia (in the municipal building Tabacalera), where four chargers have been installed in two lamp posts able to share 28Kw simultaneously, in Calle del Pintor Vilar (calle Alboraya area), Conde Altea, 28 (Cánovas), calle del General Sanmartín, 7, and calle de Santa Rosa (Escuela de jardinería). In each of these locations two chargers have been fitted to each lamp post able to charge a total of 14kW simultaneously.

Next to each lamp post, there are also two parking spaces painted green with an electric charge symbol and anyone with an electric or electric-hybrid vehicle can park there.

Other chargers have been fitted in solar panels and solar gazebos in Plaza Solar at the Malvarrosa sportscentre, (calle de Mendizabal), in the el Cabanyal, Rojas Clemente and Castilla markets, and in the plaza de Miguel Adlert Noguerol. In these locations rapid charging posts with two sockets of 22kW maximum each have been installed.