Following the recent incorporation of 91 gas-powered units delivered by Solaris, Alfonso Sánchez Vicente, Managing Director of Empresa Municipal de Transporte (EMT Madrid), reiterated the state-owned company’s intentions to convert its strategy to a more sustainable one.

«The next tenders for buses will be zero-emission, which will lead us to have a fleet at the forefront of public transport,» the executive assured via his Linkedin account.

Earlier this year, the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, announced an investment of millions of euros in the technological revolution of the municipal company.

According to the operator, the tender for 150 12-metre electric buses will be launched for an amount of €99.9 million.

This will allow EMT to reach 16% electric buses by 2023, with a target of 35% by 2027.

In the same vein, Borja Carabante, the president of the state-owned company, confirmed the information: «With the incorporation of the next 150 electric buses we will put an end to diesel by December 2022».

In addition, it has been announced that a tender will be opened for a hydrogen plant located at the Entrevías operations centre, as well as an installation of photovoltaic panels to supply green energy and the maintenance of all EMT facilities, all for a total amount of €15.3 million.

The project is foreseen so that between 10 and 20 buses can arrive at the facility to supply H2.

In addition, they will soon start the tendering process for the purchase of 10 fuel cell buses, which will consume the energy generated at the Entrevía centre.

A week ago, 50 new chargers for 12-metre buses in the Carabanchel fleet came into operation.

Through this management, they have deployed a medium voltage supply network of 15 MVA, as well as the installation of recharging points, with a total power of 4 MW at the moment.

As of now, there are 105 simultaneous charging points at this operations centre, which is making a strong commitment to electric mobility.

«We continue to work to increase our electric fleet and transform our operations centres,» said Alfonso Sánchez Vicente during the announcement.

All of this is part of an innovative project of great relevance for its size and scope that is spearheaded by EMT Madrid and its authorities.