Barcelona Is Turning Subway Trains Into Power Stations
Barcelona is using its subways’ regenerative braking to power trains, stations and neighborhood EV chargers. Could other cities do this?
Most of the passengers emerging from the station in Bellvitge, a working-class neighborhood outside Barcelona, have no idea just how innovative the city’s subway system is. Using technology not unlike the regenerative braking found in hybrids and electric vehicles, the trains they ride generate some of the power flowing to the EV chargers in the nearby parking lot, the lights illuminating the station, and the escalators taking them to the platforms.
Every time a train rumbles to a stop, the energy generated by all that friction is converted to electricity, which is fed through inverters and distributed throughout the subway system. One-third of that powers the trains; the rest provides juice to station amenities and a growing network of EV chargers.
The ultra-fast charger outside the Bellvitge station is among four electrolineras — Spanish for “electric gas stations” — that went up in July. The city’s main transit operator, Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), plans to add three more as the project, called MetroCHARGE, expands. “We’re trying to take advantage of the power that’s already in the metro system and use that spare energy to feed EV chargers on the street,” said Marc Iglesias, head of sustainable mobility at Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona, a regional agency working with TMB on the project.
