GrowSmarter - Horizon 2020

 

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​A s​tudy outlining the full deployment of the Malta National Electric Car Charging Infrastructure

 
 
Aim of Project


The overall GrowSmarter project consists of 39 partners from across the European Union comprising of public entities, local authorities and the private sector. The project introduces 12 Smart Solutions to meet the 3 different aspects of sustainability: economic, social and environmental.
 

GrowSmarter has 3 main goals: 

  • To improve the quality of life for European citizens
  • To reduce the environmental impact
  • To create a sustainable economic development

The main aim of GrowSmarter is to help develop and introduce the 12 Smart Solutions into the market.



Malta-Specific Aim


GrowSmarter is a knowledge-gathering project for Malta.  This project has two types of partners; Lighthouse Cities (Partners who will be implementing various horizontal sub-projects addressing various sectors) and Follower Cities (Partners who will be observing, and learning from, the implementation of the sub-projects by the Lighthouse Cities and gather the necessary know-how to replicate the actions locally in the future).


As part of this project, Transport Malta is participating on behalf of Valletta as a Follower City. Transport Malta will be following the development of the Solutions related to electromobility in the Lighthouse Cities of Stockholm, Cologne and Barcelona.


Of the 12 Smart Solutions which the project will be developing, Transport Malta has selected to focus on the two which are most relevant to the island, namely;
  • Smart Solution 11 - Alternative fuel driven vehicles for decarbonizing and better air quality

  • ​Smart Solution 12 - Smart Mobility Action
  
Smart Solution 11- Alternative fuel driven vehicles for decarbonising and better air quality

The setup of a national e-platform is currently being planned, to connect current and future charging points and enable their remote management and monitoring while ensuring interoperability and the competitivity of the charging infrastructure on the national transport network. Within Valletta, several electromobility projects will merge over the coming five years.  These will include, but not be limited to, E-car sharing initiatives, the drive towards the electrification of Public Transport, and the introduction of pedelecs and charging infrastructure at bus termini and P&R locations.
 


Transport Malta is very interested to learn from the experience of other cities on how charging infrastructure for electric vehicles can be effectively managed to provide the best service to its users, maintain an open, competitive market, including different propulsion technologies, while leaving the least possible negative impact on the electricity grid.  All this will be closely followed by Transport Malta as part of the GrowSmarter project and its development of Solution 11.​ 
 

 
Smart Solution 12 – Smart Mobility Action

Malta will look at the actions implemented by the Cities of Barcelona, Stockholm and Cologne, with respect to vehicle sharing solutions, be they conventional car sharing, electric car sharing as well as e-bike sharing (PEDELEC) in specific urban cores.
 

The studies and knowledge-gathering exercise to be conducted by Transport Malta during the implementation of the GrowSmarter project on these vehicle sharing platforms is essential before Transport Malta can attempt to carry out an actual pilot project in Malta, especially since there has so far been no experience with car sharing of any form on the island. 

E-Car/Car Sharing and e-bike sharing are both included in Malta’s National Electromobility Action Plan (MNEAP) and hence are of top priority both for the Transport Authority and the Government. These will further contribute towards the promotion of additional modes of transport, in the case of pedelecs and addressing traffic congestion problems in specific urban cores by developing the concept of vehicle sharing.


 
Deliverables and Expected Results

Based on the knowledge gathering exercise – to be done through site visits, peer to peer meetings, workshops, etc. – TM will compile:  

  • Replication Plan that will serve as guidelines for implementation in the deployment of Charging Infrastructure on the national network;
    •  
  • ​Replication Plan that will serve as guidelines for implementation in the deployment of vehicle-sharing infrastructure on the national network
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Benefits from the Project

GrowSmarter will enable Transport Malta, particularly the Malta National Electromobility Platform (MNE​P​), to widen its knowledge in the various areas of electromobility while focusing more specifically on the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in combination with the concept of e-car/car/e-bike sharing which is currently being taken up by different cities within Europe and worldwide. This increased knowledge will allow Transport Malta, through the MNEP, to deploy and adapt these concepts in Malta, thus assisting the Government to deploy electromobility as indicated in the Malta National Electromobility Action Plan (MNEAP) and consequently address National Targets under the various EU legislation; but particularly the Climate Change and Energy Package; the Air Quality Package; the Noise Directive as well as the Alternative Fuels Directive. Apart from assisting Government to avoid sanctions should these targets fail to be met, the deployment of electromobility will accrue other direct benefits to the Maltese Society. 



Meetings
 









Duration of the Project


The project commenced in January 2015 and is expected to be completed by January 2019.



Financing


The GrowSmarter project is 100% financed through the Horizon 2020 Programme.



Links


For further information visit the GrowSmarter Project official website: http://www.grow-smarter.eu/home/

E-update 2017: