Palma de Mallorca to get 100 new electric buses

The transport company of Mallorca's island capital Palma has presented an ambitious electrification plan. It wants to purchase 100 electric buses within the next three years. The city government has now released 33 million euros for this purpose. (UPDATE BELOW)

With the purchase of electric buses, the transport company EMT Palma plans to operate around half of its buses electrically in future. The new electric buses will primarily replace diesel buses purchased between 2000 and 2010, as well as natural gas vehicles built in 2009 and 2010.

It is not known which manufacturers will supply the electric buses, what configuration and length are planned, or whether the contract(s) has/have yet to be put out to tender. However, a press release states: “As far as the purchase of these new units is concerned, the first step in this direction was taken on 15 November, when this ECO/EMT project was awarded 12 million euros from the Tourism Tax for Sustainable Development (ITS) for the purchase of eight 18-metre electric buses and eight 12-metre electric buses.”

EMT has been using zero-emission drive systems for some time, but only on a small scale. In 2023, electric buses were added to the EMT fleet for the first time, namely twelve 12-metre versions of the ie Tram model from Spanish manufacturer Irizar. EMT also placed an order for five hydrogen buses with Polish bus manufacturer Solaris three years ago.

At the same time as acquiring the new electric buses, the city of Palma is planning a new bus depot in the Son Rossinyol industrial estate covering an area of around 28,000 square metres. It will have charging facilities for 108 electric buses using pantographs. The existing 30,000 square metre depot in Coll d’en Rabassa has a capacity for 150 buses and is no longer sufficient for the 257 active buses, said Antoni Deudero, the city councillor responsible for mobility.

Update 13 March 2024

The Board of Directors of EMT Palma has now approved the procurement of 113 electric buses worth 117 million euros over the next four years. The plan is to purchase 67 articulated electric buses with a length of 18 metres and 46 standard electric buses with a length of 12 metres.

The procurement of both types of buses will now be put out to tender in two separate lots and interested companies will be given the opportunity to submit bids. EMT Palma hopes that the lots can be awarded by June 2025 so that the first new electric buses could be on the streets of Palma between September and December 2026.

mallorcamagazin.com (in German), palma.es (in Catalonian), emtpalma.cat (update)