Acciona Energía continues its commitment to the business of charging points for electric cars. The company entered this market at the end of 2021 with the purchase of Cargacoches and set a goal of reaching a managed public access network of 25,000 points by 2030 based on its own and management for third parties. Now, after one year and four months, he decides to increase resources with the aim of facing new challenges or projects.
Specifically, according to the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (BORME), Acciona Recarga SL has reinforced its net worth with a capital increase of 2.5 million euros, reaching a resulting subscribed capital of almost 7 million euros. A few months ago, the company reached an agreement with the German Qwello to launch a joint venture for the development of public charging points in Spain.
100% renewable to the points, as well as its operation and maintenance. The charging points will be predominantly 11 kilowatts (kW) of power. Spanish cities have very few charging points accessible to the general public, making it difficult for electric vehicles to penetrate the country.
According to the Spanish company, only around 2% of the current charging points in Spanish cities are public: this means that in Barcelona or Madrid there are just over 60 public charging points, while in other European cities you can even find 3 or 4 charging points per block. Spain closed 2022 with some 17,000 public charging points, compared to the 45,000 expected, according to figures from the Anfac manufacturers’ association. In this way, it is very far from the Government’s objective of reaching 100,000 this year, mainly due to the lengthy process of processing licenses and connection to the network, which can take up to two years.
Obligation by royal decree
Under Royal Decree Law 29/2021, from January 1 of this year, all buildings for use other than private residential that have a parking area with more than 20 spaces, either inside or in a space assigned exterior, as well as in existing parking lots not attached to buildings with more than 20 spaces, must have certain minimum provisions for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
“In general, a charging station will be installed for every 40 parking spaces or fraction, up to 1,000 spaces, and one more charging station for every 100 additional spaces or fraction. or public bodies linked to it or dependent on the Likewise, a charging station will be installed for every 20 parking spaces or fraction, up to 500 spaces, and one more charging station for every 100 additional spaces or fractionation”, señ fractionation”, text.
On the other hand, Law 7/2021, of May 20, on climate change and energy transition, establishes that service stations are obliged to have at least one electric charging point in their facilities or within a radius of 300 meters It is the number of liters of fuel (gasoline and diesel) sold in 2019 that determines the power of the recharging point. In total, there are a thousand gas stations affected. There are three exceptions to the general obligation: facilities that already have a recharging point with the same characteristics as the one to be installed; facilities that cannot meet the technical conditions or the applicable industrial safety and quality requirements; and installations in which it is not feasible to run the electrical connection necessary for the charging point. The Government’s objective is to have 100,000 public points for this year.
Pilot project with Cepsa
But Acciona is not only focused on the points, but has also partnered with Cepsa to carry out a pilot test to develop a network of battery exchangers at the oil company’s service stations for the electric vehicles manufactured by its subsidiary Silence . The first initiative of the joint project is already underway in Barcelona. The plan contemplates the initial development of ten interchanges in as many Cepsa stations, five in the Catalan capital and another five in Madrid. Silence uses a removable battery system in its electric motorcycles that allows the user to leave the discharged unit at a swap station, get another with a 100% charge and continue their journey, through a very fast replacement operation, in just one minute. duration.
