Port accessOne of the five main areas of activity of the 2023-2026 Strategy Plan of the Bilbao Port Authority is to ensure that the Port maintains a healthy economic-financial balance so as to continue to develop port infrastructure and to provide the Port with new services. In this sense, the analysis made at the halfway point of the Plan has shown highly satisfactory results in terms of target delivery.
In 2024, turnover stood at 76.7 million euros, up from 68.7 million euros in 2023, an increase of +11.60%. The debt with the European Investment Bank (EIB) amounts to 35.6 million euros, and cash balances total 67.8 million euros. The resources generated (Ebitda) stand at 37.4 million. In this line, a green loan has been secured from the European Investment Bank-Climate Bank for up to 80 million euros, and 33 million euros of grants have been approved in competitive programmes of the European Commission to promote the energy transition and decarbonisation.
In line with the above, the healthy economic and financial situation of the Port Authority will enable it to continue investing heavily in energy transition, basic infrastructure, intermodality, digitisation, innovation and port-city issues. These include deploying an OPS (electrification of the docks) system, the first phase of which is already underway and will be completed in early 2026, requiring an investment of 4,477,694 euros co-funded by a grant of 4.3 million euros from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The second phase, currently under tender, will be partially financed by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF funds) and by part of the aforementioned loan secured from the EIB.
Another stand-out action undertaken is the start of the second phase of works on the Central Breakwater, which will be completed in 2027. The works consist of the creation of 1,011 m of new mooring line and a total surface area of some 310,000 m² to accommodate new projects designed to generate activity and employment, thus partially alleviating the high occupation rate of port land which will reach 97% in 2025 if the surface area committed to in 2025 is also factored into the calculation.
To continue supporting business competitiveness, the Port Authority of Bilbao will once again maintain its prices for its customers. As has been the case over the period 2014-2024, port charges will remain unchanged despite cumulative general inflation. The Port Authority also provides incentives with 50% discounts for pioneering vessels championing decarbonisation by using alternative fuels (LNG and hybrid ships) and/or low-emission technologies in port.
In 2024, overall investment amounted to 32.1 million euros, lower than planned due to administrative delays in the start of some of the planned works. In May, the Council of Ministers approved the authorisation for the tender for the second phase of the Central Breakwater, whilst in November, authorisation was obtained for the electrification of the docks, and approval to set up an array of PV solar panels was given in December. In all cases, once the green light was received, the tendering process for these three strategic projects was launched. The investment initially planned for 2025 is 70.29 million euros.
