THE Spanish Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has begun preliminary market consultation to evaluate alternative traction such as green hydrogen or batteries as a potential replacement for diesel on non-electrified sections of the national network.
Consultation runs until September 30 and is being conducted by means of the national online public-sector tendering platform. It is intended to enable suppliers to provide information in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner.
The results will inform studies seeking to determine the socio-economic case for further electrification or the deployment of other alternatives to diesel. The non-electrified lines being studied are:
- Ávila -Salamanca
- Torralba - Soria
- Huesca - Canfranc
- Cáceres - Valencia de Alcántara
- Zafra - Huelva, and
- Mérida - Los Rosales.
These studies will form part of a new outline electrification strategy for the national network, which is currently under development and due for completion in 2026. The strategy will meet a commitment made by the government when it agreed the national recovery and resilience plan for Spain with the European Commission (EC).
Worth €163bn, the plan is entirely funded by the European Union’s (EU) Recovery and Resilience Facility (RFF), which is providing €80bn in grants and €83bn in loans. Investment in the green transition under the plan includes €13.2bn for sustainable urban and long-distance transport, part of which will be spent on improving rail infrastructure.
Of the 11,672km national network administered by infrastructure manager Adif, 6719km or 57.5% is currently electrified, according to the ministry.
