Catalonia has lost the renewable energy train. It was the pioneering autonomous community in this segment – the first wind turbine in Spain was installed in 1984 in the Baix Empordà – but a decade, at least, of inaction in this sector means that for the moment it has not left the wagon of Europe’s tail, even if the Government tries to put one more gear. This situation was the subject of debate yesterday in Parliament, where, once again, the importance of a government having stable parliamentary support was evident, especially when it governs alone.
The Executive of Pere Aragonès once again suffered the overthrow of the bloc opposition in the monographic debate on renewable energies promoted by PSC and Junts, which together with the rest of the groups in the Catalan Chamber once again warned the ERC Government , this time for its “failure” in the implementation of clean energies in Catalonia.
Although not all of the responsibility for this poor management is attributable to the current Government, because the previous Ministry of Territory and Sustainability during the governments of Quim Torra and Carles Puigdemont was in the hands of JxCat, socialists and post-convergents put ERC in the target for its “disastrous” management since they assumed responsibility in the matter. They denounced that Catalonia “regresses” year after year in the production of renewable energies, as demonstrated by the fact that in 2022 the production of this energy was the lowest in thirteen years.
The data contrasts with those presented by the Government. Aragonès himself took the floor to emphasize that Catalonia is the territory with the most self-consumption installations in the State and that 1,600 MW of renewable energy have already been authorized in the community, half of the 3,000 MW ‘has proposed to arrive when the legislature ends.
“Certainly, we were late”, admitted the president, but “we are doing our homework and catching up”. “The inertia has turned”, he assessed, in order to meet the objective that by 2030, 50% of electricity demand will be met with renewables – currently it is around 15% -. But Aragonès pointed out that these objectives cannot be reached “in any way”, but with “consensus” and taking into account factors such as the impact on the primary sector, on biodiversity; in short, in the territory.
The president opted for consensus and demanded “political honesty” from the opposition in the face of “the complexity” of the energy transition in Catalonia. He even centrifuged some responsibilities when he recalled that the central government is the one that authorizes photovoltaic and wind parks of more than 50 MW and that has authorized private high-voltage lines in Catalonia “that have a strong impact on the territory and that cause a lot of people”. The Councilor for Climate Action, David Mascort, demanded “loyalty” to the Spanish Government and to stop authorizing these lines that “step on the powers” of the Generalitat in matters of biodiversity.
The Government’s arguments did not convince the other parties, who demanded “a 180 degree turn or a change of pace” in the face of the “paralysis” of the Catalan Executive.
