Press release
Media: Diario Financiero
ALLIANCE WITH AN EYE TOWARDS PROCESSES IN CHILE AND THE REGION
"I want to achieve a 50% market share in the system’s capacity," says the division's CEO, Karla Zapata, about the upcoming public transport tender in the capital.
On July 20, Enel X will open a new chapter on electric buses, as it will formalize an alliance with an investment fund based in New York to provide financing to operators and manufacturers, both in Chile and in the rest of America. The division's CEO, Karla Zapata, emphasized that this is an ambitious association that will allow this initiative to spread strongly in the territory. “It is an alliance for the entire region. It will not only involve Chile, but also Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and the United States, among other places where Enel X has a presence.”
“The idea is for us to participate powerfully in future public transport bids," said the executive, who reserved the identity of the financial entity with which they closed the agreement. She explained that the selection of the partner was based on three key criteria: broad coverage (from North America to Chile), robust financial backing, and high credibility in the market to negotiate with banks such as the IDB. In regard to the national market, she indicated that the objective is to allow Enel X to triple the 433 busses they currently have circulating in Santiago. “Our idea is to enter strongly in the market in the immediate future and not talk about 100 buses, but hopefully out of the future 1,700 electric units, 700 will be with this partner.”
There are no minor investments in relation with public transport and we needed a partner with a high financing capacity," she pointed out.
The upcoming Network tender.
In September the price list of the fleet providers will be announced in the framework of the future Santiago bus tender.
In this first stage, in the electric vehicle segment there are four brands that could be interested in incorporating their busses into the system: BYD, Yutong, Foton and King Long buses. Enel X is already approaching all of them to achieve synergies and become their financial backing. "We want to become a relevant actor and provide infrastructure in the field of transport. Electric units are potentially part of this tender and we would like 700, but if we can do more, we will. I am conservative, but I want to achieve a 50% market share in the system’s capacity,” she says.
Within the analysis for the next four years, the executive has her eyes on the renewals that will come after the 4,000 buses, which represent the renewal of 63% of Transantiago's current fleet, since, after that milestone, some 3,000 new units will also have to be renewed.
Enel X wants to replicate the formula in regions, where the government wants to implement new electric buses in Concepción, Temuco, and Antofagasta, with units ranging between 20 and 30 buses. In the face of this situation, the company hopes to enter with a specific proposal.
Zapata envisions a very active electricity market and predicts that the government's goal of converting 100% of the public transport system to this technology by 2040 could be achieved earlier. “The new tenders should end in 2030, because they are for ten years and in the case of the electrical segment they are for fourteen years; then, by that date, the penetration percentage of this technology will be important. The government has given positive signs that this milestone will be met and we are pushing hard to make it possible. And this new financing model that we have aims at making electromobility possible in Chile and the region,” she said.