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Demonstration City I Montevideo - Uruguay
Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, has a population of 1.3 million, more than 30% of the country’s population. Uruguay’s GDP per capita is US$16.245, which is amongst the highest in the region. In 2014, its per capita CO2 emissions were 2 tonnes. Uruguay has undergone a structural transformation of its electricity system, as such more than 90% of the electricity generated now comes from renewable sources. Transportation is the sector with the second highest energy consumption in Uruguay and is the main consumer of petroleum derivatives and the largest emitter of CO2 (MIEM n.d). This can be explained by the fact that 82% of the motorised trips are completed in private vehicles with an average annual growth of the light-duty vehicle fleet of 7%. As for the public transport system, it is mainly busses operated by five private operators, and taxis. However, recently there are also micro-mobility providers pushing into the market. Montevideo is trying to advance the transition to an inclusive, adaptable, efficient and low carbon transport system. Therefore, within the MOVES project (for more details see below) , the Municipality of Montevideo, known as Intendencia, in cooperation with different national ministries aims at the integration of 100 e-buses, e-cargo-vehicles and e-taxis. It will begin in the metropolitan area of Montevideo and should serve as a model for replication in other cities in Uruguay. It is expected that this project will result in direct CO2 emissions savings of at least 115,000t and indirect savings of at least 165,000t 10 years after the completion of the project.
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Cost-efficient and smart charging solutions
The planned demo action consists of assisting with the construction of a high-capacity bus depot to charge the existing and planned e-buses overnight, taking advantage of the electricity oversupply and a reduced electricity price at night. Once the demo action starts, there will already be 30 e-buses running in Montevideo and the bidding process for the next 40 will have started. The high-capacity bus depot will integrate efficient and cost-effective smart charging solutions compliant with Combined Charging Standard (CCS) and Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP).
This will allow charging of up to 3 buses with 1 charger, i.e., 3 compact boxes powered by one charge cabinet that will charge 3 buses sequentially (up to 150 kW per bus) with all buses being charged within 6 hours. The main advantage of implementing this type of equipment is that the required grid connection is smaller, reducing initial investments and operational costs. The depot will serve a double purpose, as during daytime 10 E-taxis (provided by city/taxi) will have access to 15-30 minutes charges in the multi-standard 50 kW fast charging stations provided (ABB). Moreover, the possibility of installing opportunity fast chargers in the most travelled streets for buses to charge for 3-6 minutes on-route will be explored. These solutions can easily be integrated in existing operations by installing inverted pantographs and chargers at terminals and intermediate stops. Finally, a real-time platform for reliable and secure operation of electrical power networks, ranging from generation, transmission and distribution to e-buses will be developed to improve the system management. IDIADA will support the charging standardization.
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Planned actions
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Trends and drivers
As summarized above transportation is the sector with the second highest energy consumption in Uruguay, the main consumer of petroleum derivatives and the largest emitter of CO2. The contribution of transport within the energy sector emissions has increased, at a small pace between 2006 (39%) and 2012 (40%), and more significantly afterwards, reaching a share of 58% in 2018 and with prospects to account for more than 60% of energy emissions in the next decade (BEN 2018a).
According to a survey from 2017, commissioned among others by the Municipality of Montevideo, the modal split in Montevideo is as follows: two thirds are motorized (car, motorcycle, bus, etc.) and one third are active mobility (walking and cycling), of which the vast majority is on foot (34%). 32% of the trips are made by car, 4% by motorcycle, 25% by bus, 34% on foot and only 3% by bicycle.
Though population growth is estimated to be rather low (0,4% annually), it will take place in areas outside the city center, thus leading to more potential travel trips. Also, the expected economic growth (annual growth rate of 1.6% in 2017, 2.5% in 2018, and 3.7% in 2019) is a further driver of motorization rates and thus higher CO2emissions from urban mobility in Montevideo. In 2007/08 the use of public transportation rose about 30%, when a policy of subsides was introduced, keeping prices low. The Intendencia had set up an interesting financing mechanism: a transport trust, which functions as collective sector financing structure (in Spanish: fideicomiso), allowing companies to access much more beneficial conditions than if they did so individually (IM 2003; EV 2018). However, cheap ticket prices were unable to curb steady car-use growth and since 2014 ticket sales have even decreasing slightly. Not even the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) of Montevideo, implementing a new pricing system and priority corridors has led to an increase in ridership.
Among significant stakeholders and large groups of the citizenry, the priviledges of car users are not questioned, and also, implementation of new strategic concepts, such as for example the above mentioned corridors, are very controversial. Very few companies or public institutions encourage sustainable mobility solutions. In 2010, Uruguay started the active promotion of electric mobility. The installed renewable energy capacity for the generation of electricity is sufficient to satisfy the expected increase in demand according to the projections for the incorporation of electric vehicles (MIEM n.d). Against this background, there have been attempts to help advance a transportation system that actively promotes e-vehicles (EV).
Among significant stakeholders and large groups of the citizenry, the priviledges of car users are not questioned, and also, implementation of new strategic concepts, such as for example the above mentioned corridors, are very controversial. Very few companies or public institutions encourage sustainable mobility solutions. In 2010, Uruguay started the active promotion of electric mobility. The installed renewable energy capacity for the generation of electricity is sufficient to satisfy the expected increase in demand according to the projections for the incorporation of electric vehicles (MIEM n.d). Against this background, there have been attempts to help advance a transportation system that actively promotes e-vehicles (EV).
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