Since March 14, 2022, when the Government approved the “Valle Solar” photovoltaic plant, with 300 MW of peak power and 250 MW of installed power, in Jarafuel, Zarra and Ayora, in the province of Valencia, there have been up to 17 projects most published in the BOE with a favorable environmental impact declaration (DIA). The most recent, the 116.36 MWP “FV Monover”, which the ministry headed by Teresa Ribera approved on January 31.
Of the 21 published, only three have an unfavorable DIA: that of the Torremendo I and Torremendo II photovoltaic solar power plants, of 150 and 75 MW respectively, and their associated evacuation infrastructure, in Murcia and Orihuela”; that of the Itel photovoltaic solar plants, with 119,916 MWp and Bibey, with 58,794 MWp, and their evacuation infrastructures, in Orihuela and that of the Campos de Levante 100 MW photovoltaic solar plant and its evacuation infrastructure, in Chiva and Godelleta. All of them argue that they will generate “significant adverse impacts” on the landscape, fauna or environment.
Added to these 21 projects is the “Maestrazgo Cluster”, the largest wind energy projected in the State and which, although it is developed in the territory of Aragon, also has a direct impact on the Valencian Community due to its evacuation lines. Also included in this list is the “Magda”, with 150 MWp and whose extension, as well as that of its evacuation line, runs entirely in the province of Castellón.
All are large facilities, since they have a power of more than 50 megawatts (MW) and therefore must be authorized by the central government, specifically, by the Ministry for Ecological Transition. Therefore, the renewable projects that have been approved by the Valencian government, which authorizes those with lower capacity, do not enter here.
Let us remember that the last milestone was on January 25, when the Generalitat Valenciana approved 61 files for a total power of 1,356 MW out of a total of 107 requested. Of these, 19 were approved for photovoltaic energy in Alicante, 8 in Castellón and 27 in Valencia.
Wind power were the least: only five in Castellón, in addition to a hydroelectric project and another cogeneration project in Montanejos and Burriana, respectively.
After reading the data from environmental assessments of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, the moor that is observed in territories such as Catalonia or the Basque Country is striking.
In Catalonia, without going any further, there is only one photovoltaic park published in the BOE, dated January 31. It is Els Plans, with 66 MW, Suró, with 72 MW and Ferriols, with 72 MW, with associated evacuation infrastructures in the provinces of Lleida, Tarragona and Barcelona and has an unfavorable environmental impact declaration.
The Government affirms here that “it will foreseeably cause significant adverse impacts on the environment, without the prevention, correction and compensation measures provided for by the promoter constituting a sufficient guarantee for the adequate protection of the environment”. On the other hand, there is not a single photovoltaic plant published in the BOE, according to the public consultation list of environmental assessments offered by the Government.
If the north is observed, the tonic is similar. In the Basque Country there are no large photovoltaic park projects in the BOE. On the other hand, there are two wind farms: Labraza, with 40 MW that includes a part of its evacuation infrastructure in Oyón (Álava) and Aguilar de Codés (Navarra), published on January 21.
The other, from 2013, is the installation of a floating platform with a wind turbine in the Biscay Marine Energy Platform infrastructure, a marine energy testing infrastructure located in Armintza, commissioned in 2005.
