Valencia uses public chargers in lampposts

December 07, 2022

It may be best know for its stunning architecture but the Spanish city of Valencia has a new ambition: to become carbon neutral by 2030. Street lights are used to recharge electric cars, with the initiative proving so successful that the initial 12 charging stations is being increased to more than 150.

It's not just energy that's saved, either. “To make an estimate of the savings, just consider that installing a recharging point of this type costs about 2,500 euros, compared to the 50,000 euros required for the traditional charging points,” says project coordinator Ernesto Faubel.

More than 20,000 lampposts on the beachfront are also equipped with devices that can help workers monitor their consumption remotely.

From fishing community to energy community
Once home to a small fishing community, the famous Cabanyal area has become a lab for energy efficiency. This is thanks to MAtchUP, an EU-funded project aimed at developing and scaling up smart city solutions.

“Solar panels have been installed in the framework of the MatchUp project. It is one of the pilot projects that we are developing here."

"In particular, the City Council launched a call for tenders to install this type of solar panels, the so-called 'solar pergolas', in five different points of Valencia,” says Laurie Barriol, an R&D Technician working on the EU project MATchUP.

This public urban innovation centre will soon be home to the city’s first “socialised solar plant”, a 100,000 euro project, 80% of which is financed by citizens who have each invested between 100 and 2,000 euros.

Valencia is just one of 100 European cities aiming to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Together with Dresden in Germany and Antalya in Turkey, Valencia is one of the so-called lighthouse cities, selected to showcase large-scale demonstrations within the MAtchUP project.