Ferrovial, through its Construction division, alongside its French partner, Spie batignolles, have reached an agreement with Électricité de France (EDF) to ensure that the electricity supply required during construction work on a section of Paris Metro line 18 under its responsibility will come exclusively from renewable sources.
Both companies are in charge of the construction of this section connecting Orly airport to the city of Versailles. The investment in electricity from renewable sources planned during this civil engineering work on this section, as part of the Grand Paris Express project, will reach approximately 4 million euros.
The agreement provides for the supply of 25 gigawatt hours (GWh), equivalent to the power used by a city of 85,000 people, such as Versailles, in three months. Of the total, 13.5 GWh will be used to drive the tunnel boring machine and the rest to operate the ancillary equipment required for construction. EDF has provided the consortium with a guarantee that the electricity will come from renewable sources. The deal will avoid the emission of 7,396 tons of CO2.
To contribute to reducing the carbon footprint, the consortium will use a variable density tunnel boring machine already in place that was used to dig the previous section.
“Ferrovial’s Construction division has made a firm commitment that, by 2025, all projects where we have decision-making capacity will use 100% renewable energy. We are also working to replicate this commitment to sustainability in projects with partners, in order to involve the entire value chain,” said Ignacio Gastón, CEO of Ferrovial Construction.
The technology used in the tunnel boring machine, which has been named in a ceremony on May 29, will make it possible to re-use the excavated material (mainly sand) in other phases of the project, in line with Ferrovial’s Circular Economy Plan.
Ferrovial’s climate strategy continues to be one of the guiding principles of the company’s operations. This is evidenced by its recognition by CDP and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as a world leader in environmental responsibility. This agreement is part of Ferrovial’s roadmap to achieve the SBTi-supported goal of reducing its emissions by 35.3% in absolute terms by 2030, and reaching neutrality by mid-century. In line with these goals, Ferrovial reduced its emissions by 45.5% between 2009 and 2023.
Grand Paris Express project
Work on the section of line 18 connecting Orly Airport to Versailles Chantiers was awarded to Ferrovial in consortium with Spie in April 2022. The 428-million-euro contract, comprises digging a 6.7-kilometer tunnel between the Guyancourt and Versailles – Chantiers stations, in western Paris, as well as building three stations and eight ancillary structures. It is part of the Grand Paris Express project, Europe’s largest infrastructure project, which involves adding 68 new stations and 200 kilometers of line to the Paris subway system. The infrastructure is scheduled to become operational in 2030.
The project strengthens Ferrovial’s footprint in France. The company has been operating in France since 2013, having executed eight contracts in ITER, the world’s largest experimental fusion facility, whose goal is to research the feasibility of fusion energy.
