​Puertos del Estado and the Port Authority of Almería agree on the 2020-2024 Business Plan

The Port Authority will invest €36 million

• The planned investments will enable the port to accommodate deep-sea vessels.
• Caicedo announces a circular economy project for the port of Carboneras
  
   
  
   

16-10-2020 (Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda) The President of Puertos del Estado, Francisco Toledo, conducted a work meeting yesterday with Jesús Caicedo, President of the Almería Port Authority, at which they agreed on the 2020-2024 Business Plan, a period during which more than 36 million euros will be invested.

The most relevant actions include the drafting of the project for the land connection of the outer dock with Pechina Quay and the 1st phase of the Pechina Quay Extension. These actions, which will involve ana total investment of 23 million euros, will allow the development of the western area of the port, since once undertaken the port will be able to accommodate deep-sea vessels.

Puertos del Estado and the Port Authority have agreed to propose the signing of a cooperation protocol to the General Road Directorate of MITMA, which will provide legal cover for the updating of the project for connection to the A-7 via the Pescadería roundabout. The updated project will be entirely financed by the Financial Fund for Terrestrial Accessibility of the Port and its implementation will favour the exit to the Pescadería roundabout, located in the middle of the avenue entering the city, congested by light vehicle traffic, as well as the access of fruit and vegetable product lorries to the port area.

The Port Authority also reported on the progress of the Modification of the Special Management Plan of the standing and waiting area for port boarding: service area for passengers of Almeria (Bayana) port. This modification is necessary because it is impacted by the A-7 road access project.

The reconversion of the port installations in Carboneras to other industrial uses is also being studied due to the closure of the Endesa thermal power station. According to Caicedo "we have a circular economy project on the table that we are particularly excited about, in order to provide new uses for more than 300,000 Tm of used oil."

With regard to port traffic, the impact of COVID-19, especially on passenger traffic, was analysed during the meeting. Pursuant to this, the Port Authority stated that the reduction in the movement of passengers with North Africa will incur, in a circumstantial way, losses of more than 1 million euros.

Lastly, as far as the port-city actions are concerned, the President of the Port Authority has reported on the progress of the rehabilitation work on the Cable Ingles, which is at 40% completion. It should be remembered that the action was selected by the Joint Committee of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Culture to be financed by the 1.5% Cultural Fund.