The Government authorizes to tender a contract for the conservation of roads in the province of Palencia for 39.6 million euros

• The Council of Ministers gives the green light to contract the work, with an initial duration of 3 years, within the framework of the program of maintenance of the State Road Network to guarantee the conditions of circulation, road and safety. • It includes actions such as accident monitoring and attention, winter road, tunnel control and communications service or the maintenance of facilities. • The specifications include conditions to promote the improvement of energy efficiency and the reduction of emissions of the activity of the General Directorate of Roads, which currently emits 71,640 tons of CO2 annually

November 22, 2023.- The Council of Ministers, at its meeting today, authorized the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to tender a contract for the execution of conservation and exploitation operations on state roads in the province of Palencia, with an estimated value of just over 39.6 million euros (VAT not included).

This contract, aimed at the maintenance and conservation of 306,429 km of roads of which 110 are km of motorways, includes requirements to promote energy efficiency and emission reduction and is part of the Ministry’s program to maintain the conditions of circulation, road and safety in the State Road Network (RCE) ensuring that it is accessible in the appropriate conditions to all citizens.

The duration is 3 years, with the possibility of an extension of 2 years and an additional one of a maximum of 9 months.

Action will be taken on sector No 1, which includes different sections of the motorways and roads A-67, A-73, P-12, N-120, N-611, N-611A, N-627, N-627A and link A-67/E-55.

Together with the related roads, the execution of the works of:

- Superficial rehabilitation of the firm on the conventional road P-12, Penetration North to Palencia, between km 0 to 5,024.

Sustainability

Within the strategy of reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency, the tender documents of the conservation and exploitation contracts (COEX) of the State Road Network contemplate objectives of mitigation and compensation of the carbon footprint, which means that companies must include in their offers the calculation of the carbon footprint that they will generate during the execution of the contract in each stretch of the road.

They will also commit to presenting a decarbonization plan in the first six months of the contract with reduction and emissions compensation measures to achieve a carbon neutral balance within 5 years from the start of the contract. The compensation can be done through the absorption projects registered in the Carbon Footprint, Compensation and Carbon Dioxide Absorption Projects, under the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, or through other options.

This plan will also be included within the valuation criteria.

The aim is to reduce CO2 by 71,640 tonnes per year, which, according to calculations made by the General Directorate of Roads, generates the regular operation and maintenance and operation of the State Road Network and reinforces the orientation towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility is committed.

Conservation model characteristics

The new model of mixed contracts (services and works) for the execution of conservation and exploitation operations in the State Road Network aims to offer a comprehensive service of mobility to the user, improve the state of the road and network and optimize public resources.

Through them, works are carried out to help the roads and ordinary conservation of the roads, to allow the infrastructure and its functional elements to have the best possible conditions of circulation and safety. It includes actions such as: schedule of status information and programming, operating aid and road safety studies and maintenance of road elements with adequate levels of quality.

Last year, energy efficiency measures were incorporated into service facilities, such as self-consumption, renewable heating systems, energy saving measures in lighting or the implementation of electric motor vehicles.