The roads that depend on the Generalitat will be self-sufficient from an energy point of view thanks to the installation of 22 photovoltaic plants that will produce the energy to supply a 6,000-kilometer road network. This is the objective of the 2023-2026 program for self-generation and energy sovereignty presented yesterday by the Minister of Terriotori, Ester Capella.
The program, which is already underway, will require an investment of 32.5 million euros. “Our action on the road network has very ambitious objectives. "We must move decisively towards zero emissions in the mobility system by 2050. And to achieve this we must not only improve the vehicle fleet but also review how we build roads, how we maintain them and how we manage them," said the councilor during the presentation of the program, which took place at C-32, in Mataró.
The final objective is that the Catalan road network can “generate surpluses to make them available to citizens and reduce the cost of energy, not only for road maintenance.” It is about taking advantage of the potential offered by the Generalitat's jurisdiction to install photovoltaic panels in non-developable spaces, preferably at the mouths of the tunnels.
The plates will make it possible to generate the 21.4 GW/h per year that the entire road network currently requires. The actions included in the program contemplate the installation in the following places: on the C-12 in the Benifallet tunnel, on the C-14 in the tunnels of the section between Peramola and Coll de Nargó; on the C-17 in a section between Tagamanent and Sant Martí de Centelles; in the Vic Road Control Center building; on the C-32 north, in the tunnels of Mataró, Sant Pol and Santa Susanna and in the old toll areas of Santa Susanna, Arenys de Mar and Vilassar de Dalt; on the C-33 in the old toll area of Mollet del Vallès; on the C-37 in the tunnels of the Bracons axis (Sant Pere de Torelló – la Vall d’en Bas); on the C-58c in the tunnel of the Ronda Oest de Sabadell; on the C-55, in the La Flauta and La Guardia tunnels, in Clariana de Cardener, and in the Costafreda and La Torre tunnels, in Súria; in the C-58, at the junction with the AP-7 in Ripollet; and on the C-60 in the Parpers tunnel (Argentona – la Roca del Vallès).
Three of these actions have already been carried out or are underway with a total investment of 475,000 euros. Territori has recently completed the installation of 216 photovoltaic solar modules at the top of the C-32 tunnel in Mataró and 64 panels at the Vic Road Control Center and has started work to place another 15 in a the C-12 in Benifallet.
In those cases in which the solar plants are located in spaces freed from tolls on the C-32 north and C-33 highways, the work prior to installation will begin before the end of the year with the dismantling of the cabins still standing.
The first major performance of 2024 will take place at the old Santa Susanna tollbooth on the C-32. It will involve an investment of 3.3 million euros and the installation of 3,312 modules on an area of about 2.3 hectares. This project alone will generate 15% of the energy currently consumed by the Generalitat's road network.
