Citation: Rojano-Padrón, A.; Metais,
M.O.; Ramos-Real, F.J.; Perez, Y.
Tenerife’s Infrastructure Plan for
Electromobility: A MATSim
Evaluation. Energies 2023, 16, 1178.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en16031178
Academic Editor: Alberto Reatti
Received: 15 December 2022
Revised: 4 January 2023
Accepted: 17 January 2023
Published: 20 January 2023
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
energies
Article
Tenerife’s Infrastructure Plan for Electromobility:
A MATSim Evaluation
Alejandro Rojano-Padrón
1
, Marc Olivier Metais
2,3
, Francisco J. Ramos-Real
4,5
and Yannick Perez
3,
*
1
Member of the PhD Programme in Escuela de Doctorado y Estudios de Posgrado,
Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), 38203 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
2
Vedecom Institute, 78000 Versailles, France
3
LGI, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
4
Centro de Estudios de Desigualdad Social y Gobernanza (CEDESOG), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL),
38071 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
5
Department of Economics, Accounting and Finance and University Institute of Social Research and Tourism,
Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), 38071 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
* Correspondence: yannick.perez@centralesupelec.fr
Abstract: According to the Canarian government’s plans, a complete decarbonization of the Canary
Islands economy is foreseen from 2040 onwards, which includes the electrification of land transport
in the archipelago. However, due to the current low penetration rate of electric vehicles (EVs) on
the islands, the number of EVs in circulation is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.
Despite this, the network of charging points in Tenerife is currently totally insufficient, which is why
it is essential to carry out a study to design the network of charging points in such a way that it can
absorb the entire fleet of EVs that is expected to be in place by 2040. To this end, there are studies on
the capacity, in terms of parking space, available for the installation of these charging points, but to
date there are no studies on this subject supported by mobility data. For this reason, a simulation of
traffic in Tenerife in 2040 has been carried out using MATSim (Multi-Agent Transport Simulation) to
determine the ideal places to install these charging points and to find the number of charging points
needed for the network.
Keywords: electromobility; MATSim; electric vehicles; charging points; Tenerife
1. Introduction
Faced with the challenge posed by the current climate emergency, it is essential to
accelerate the so-called energy transition to mitigate the harmful effects on the planet
caused by the increase in greenhouse gas emissions in its atmosphere over the last few
decades [1]. One of the main pillars of this transition is the decarbonization of the economy,
which includes the electrification of the transport sector, accompanied by a commitment to
the generation of energy from 100% renewable sources.
In order to carry out this electrification of transport, the Spanish Government has
committed in its Climate Change and Energy Transition Law (LCCTE) [2] to the complete
decarbonization of the transport sector throughout the national territory by 2050, following
the Communication of the European Green Pact of December 2019 [3]. This pact establishes
a new growth strategy that aims to transform the economy of the European Union in
a competitive and efficient way in the use of its resources, with the aim of achieving climate
neutrality in the continent by that year. It is in this context that this national legislation
is framed, which in turn contemplates the development of regulations and laws at the
regional level, such as the Preliminary Draft Bill of the Canary Islands Climate Change and
Energy Transition Law approved by the Canary Islands Government in November 2021 [4].
This bill sets the complete decarbonization of the economy of the archipelago for 2040, i.e.,
ten years earlier than in the rest of the national territory. In line with this draft bill, a series
Energies 2023, 16, 1178. https://doi.org/10.3390/en16031178 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies