Six Spanish cities have signed an agreement with the European Investment Bank to receive technical advice on expanding electric vehicle charging and integrating electric vehicles into urban transport systems.
Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza will take part in an advisory service launched with the European Commission through the EIB Advisory platform, the bank disclosed on Wednesday.
The support is expected to help the cities identify investment needs for charging infrastructure for cars, vans and light goods vehicles and plan phased deployment by 2030.
The agreement also covers sharing “best practices” between the cities and developing approaches for working with private investors, including public-private partnerships — arrangements where public bodies and private companies share responsibility for delivering infrastructure.
The six cities are part of the European Union’s Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission and have received the EU Mission Label for their climate plans and investment strategies. The advisory service is financed by the InvestEU Advisory Hub.
Advice not tied to EIB lending
The EIB said the technical assistance is not linked to EIB financing and will focus on building a pipeline of e-mobility projects, identifying obstacles that slow investment, and encouraging collaboration between city authorities, private investors and sector specialists.
It will also include monitoring using “reliable metrics” to measure environmental impacts over time.
The work will be developed with support from a consultancy consortium led by SUEZ and IDOM.
Under the EU mission, participating cities are expected to work towards becoming climate-neutral by 2030, with the longer-term goal of helping all European cities move towards climate neutrality by 2050, according to background information included by the EIB.
