The role of railways in decarbonizing logistics and bluetechport: from Barcelona’s International Logistics Exhibition 2024
Source：Expansion財經報, El Pais電子報, El Espanol電子報，巴塞隆納市政府經濟發展署(Barcelona Activa)網站
From：Taiwan Trade Center, Barcelona
Update Time：2024/07/25
MSC MIA the World-class largest container ship docked at the Port of Barcelona (Credit: TTC Barcelona)
Between June 5th and June 7th 2024, the International Logistics Exhibition took place in the city of Barcelona (Spain). As specified by Barcelona Activa - an organization belonging to the local government which promotes the economic development of Barcelona - the event gathered more than 650 company exhibitors whose core business is focused on logistics, transportation, new technologies, sustainability and supply chain.
Among the projects presented in the exhibition, the Mediterranean Corridor, the Intermodal Center in La Llagosta (Barcelona) or the railway accesses to the Port of Barcelona need to be highlighted. The railway is the common point between these initiatives, a mode of transport key to decarbonise the logistics but which is currently used to transport only around 3-4% of the goods. According to the Spanish newspaper “Expansión”, this percentage is expected to increase to 10% by 2030 due to the Mediterranean Corridor as well as to the railway roads initiatives, such as the ones in the ports of Valencia and Barcelona.
The Mediterranean Corridor initiative - the railway line which will connect Andalusia (Spain) with the Spanish-French border through the coast and whose main objective is to transport the currently road transported goods - was already discussed during the XI edition of the Mediterranean Corridor Forum. This event took place on May 31st 2024 in the city of Barcelona and it was organized by “Expansión” and sponsored by the Port of Barcelona and Port of Cartagena, Cimalsa - the public logistics enterprise owned by La Generalitat (the government of Catalonia) - and the railway company named Iryo. Among the participants, José Antonio Santano Clavero, the State Secretary for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, stated that 80% of the Mediterranean Corridor is already constructed and it is expected to be completely finished in 6 years thus fulfilling the commitment that Spain has made to the European Union.
The BlueTechPort, the innovation hub propelled by the Port of Barcelona, was another relevant initiative presented in the International Logistics Exhibition with the aim to attract companies interested in taking part of this project. This hub is intended to gather enterprises and projects related to the port, logistics and blue tourism sector as well as to underwater robotics, artificial intelligence applied to the marine environment, the recovery of marine biodiversity or business ideas focused on pharmaceutical components made from marine products. The main goal of the BlueTechPort project is to internationally position the city of Barcelona as one of the leading cities in the field of the blue economy. The president of the Port of Barcelona believes that this initiative will be attractive enough to attract shipping companies and other big companies of the sector thus joining the innovation in this sector.
The Port of Barcelona will renovate all the spaces of the Sant Bertran dock, where the hub will be placed, with the aim of making more than 25,000 square meters available to the enterprises, institutions and investigation centers related to the blue economy in 2027. The project is expected to occupy six different plants with the aim of placing the BlueTechPort as “the referent blue economy project in Europe” since it has competitors in the United States and Canada but not in Europe.
Outside the frame of the International Logistics Exhibition but in line with sustainable logistics, the Spanish company named Exolum - which is one of the leading liquid bulk transport and storage companies in Europe and one of the leading companies in this sector in the world - will open a new storage plant for biofuels and other bulk liquids in the Port of Bilbao. The construction is expected to start next year 2025 and finish in 2027. According to company sources, this project will expand the actual service offer of Exolum in Spain as well as its storage and product treatment capacity in the country.
In the first phase of the construction, Exolum will increase the biofuel capacity storage to 29,000 square meters by using the most advanced technology in terms of security and environmental protection. The second phase is expected to increase the capacity and operating of the future installations. In an era where all sectors’ companies are adapting to the energy transition, the Spanish group is developing a logistics investment plan in the different Spanish ports. From the Port of Bilbao the company will activate an internal biofuel and raw materials circuit with its installations in the dock of Musel (Gijón, Spain) and of la Coruña (Spain). This will be extended to the operations with its centers in the maritime terminals of the Netherlands (in Rotterdam and The Hague) as well as with the ones in Belgium (Antwerp).
According to data provided by the Spanish newspaper “El País”, Exolum operates in 11 different countries which include seven European markets, the United States, Panamá, Ecuador and Peru) and it manages an oil pipeline network of 6,000 kilometers, 66 storage terminals and 48 airport installations. The overall storage capacity is above 11 million square meters.
Source: https://www.expansion.com/catalunya/2024/06/05/6660d047468aeb7a798b456f.html