Criticism of the “avalanche” of large renewable energy projects in Catalonia

Environmental groups and some city councils reproach the Generalitat’s planning and warn of “a threat to the conservation of the territory”

Concern among environmental groups and city councils in the province of Girona in the face of the  «avalanche» of large renewable energy projects in the Alt Empordà region which, according to the argument, could become  «a threat to the conservation of the territory and to the rational use of its resources».

 One of the projects that most alarms us and that is already in process is the project Galatea, which promotes the installation of 10 200-meter-high wind turbines in La Jonquera, specifically in the Albera area, which is sensitive to the risk of fires, ”explains the spokeswoman for IAEDEN-Salvem l’EmpordÃ, Marta Ball-llosera, who warns that the height of the mills  «would make it difficult to extinguish the seaplanes in the event of fire».

Likewise, the environmental spokesperson points to the environmental impact of the construction of a new high-voltage line,  «necessary to evacuate all the energy produced by the wind turbines, and which would go from La Jonquera to the transformer station in Figueres crossing forest areas» , it would provoke in the territory.

Other projects denounced by environmental groups in the area are a hybrid initiative (solar and wind) in La Jonquera, a 100-hectare solar farm in Ordis, the installation of macro-wind generators in Garriguella, Vilajuïga, Pedret and Marzà o a solar garden of 80 hectares in Garrigoles.

 «In no case are we against renewable energy projects. What we oppose is energy speculation, to sell the territory to produce a large amount of energy that, rather than going to the towns where it is generated, ends up being sold to France O Germany », points out Ball-llosera, who emphasizes that the majority of municipalities in Alt Empordà « are small, with few inhabitants and with microelectric consumption; they don’t need facilities that produce thousands of kilowatts. ‘

Another controversial aspect of the deployment of renewables in the Alt Empordà revolves around the loss of useful surface of the towns, as could occur in Ordis, where a company of Murcia has proposed to the City Council to install 50,000 solar panels that would occupy 101 hectares,  «when in total we have eight square kilometers», says the mayor, Anna Torrentà .

According to the Minister for the Environment of the Alt Empordà Regional Council, Agustà Badosa, these “damages” for the region have their origin in the decree law of urgent measures for the climatic emergency and the promotion of renewable energies approved last November by the Generalitat.

This regulation, which marks the administrative process to obtain the licenses with which to implement the projects, “does not establish criteria to determine which are the best areas for this, what is the volume of energy that the region needs, how much He is the one who should contribute to the rest of Catalonia and how many wind turbines and solar panels are needed for this purpose, ”says Badosa.

According to sources from the Generalitat, currently only 8% of the electric energy consumed in Catalonia comes from renewable sources, when it should be around 20%: Â «In 2030, by law, 50% of the The electric energy that we consume in Catalonia should come from renewable sources. In 2050, 100%, that is, we are very far away.

For this reason, the Government affirms that  «it does not make sense to talk about excess projects and that they will be used to export energy abroad when Catalonia is so far from covering its own consumption with renewables. Nor does it make sense for the Empordà or the Girona regions to speak of excess when the contribution they make to the production of renewable energy is low compared to other territories.

Regarding the criticism of the decree law, the Generalitat refers to the Catalan Renewable Energy Conference approved at the end of 2019 with the aim of analyzing the viability of the proposed project sites, as well as their environmental impact:  «Not all the projects presented by the private initiative are accepted. So far this year, 46% of wind farms and 30% of photovoltaics have not passed this first filter ».

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