The promoters of the high-voltage line designed to connect Aragon with the Barcelona area will have to take measures to protect the populations of bald eagles and golden eagles, among other protected species, in order to change the Government’s starting position. The Catalan Administration has the last word on this project.
The projected 400 kV line from Valmuel to Begues, of around 180 km, runs mostly through Catalonia; it is promoted by Forestalia as a private line and aims to connect a large area of ??renewable production in Aragon with the Begues substation (of Red Eléctrica) at the entrance to Barcelona, ??to supply the electricity that would cease to be generated with the planned closure of the nuclear plants.
Its layout affects several natural spaces (Xarxa Natura 2000, Pein…) of “great environmental value”, and also land in the future Muntanyes de Prades natural park, warns Marc Vilahur, general director of Environmental Policies and the Natural Environment.
In April, the line obtained a favorable impact statement from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, but conditional on a favorable report on fauna and natural spaces to be issued by the Generalitat. The project, therefore, will require “conformity” from the Generalitat in order to obtain administrative authorization, according to the ministerial resolution taken.
But the Government’s pronouncement is also conditioned on the fact that the developer presents a proposal “that demonstrates that it takes into account the full environmental integrity of the territory and that it adopts all the appropriate corrective and compensatory measures so that the environmental impact is nil or as minimal as possible”, points out Marc Vilahur. He states that if the environmental impact is unacceptable, he will issue a negative report, and adds that the reports that the company has presented so far to support its plan are insufficient and that “without enough information, a project cannot have a favorable environmental assessment”.
The CEO says he expects Forestalia to provide more detailed information on the measures that should be taken to minimize the damage.
To avoid interference with critical areas for bald eagles, measures should be taken that may lead to route changes or the burying of some sections.
Vilahur considers that “the State is shirking the responsibilities that correspond to it as a competent authority” by delegating to the Generalitat the responsibility of finally evaluating the suitability or otherwise of this line. “We are facing something unimaginable. If the ministry did not see it clearly or did not have enough information, it should have issued an unfavorable statement. You cannot issue a favorable environmental statement and condition it on the fact that someone else changes the meaning of his report”, he says with reference to how the ministry has acted and to the fact that the Government already communicated to him during the processing the lack of information presented by the Forestalia project. On the other hand, sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition emphasize that “there are precedents” of conditional positive environmental impact statements.
Sources from this company stress that “it will try to comply with everything that both the central and regional administrations set for us” and that it is open to possible route changes or burial points to minimize the impact. However, they point out that burying a large part of the line would be “economically unfeasible”, would make the project up to 8 times more expensive compared to an overhead line and would be technically complex”, they add, since it would require digging a 40 meter wide trench in the mountain.
“This project crosses our region with towers 150 meters high, 28 of which in Falset. It has a great visual, landscape and environmental impact, without bringing anything back to us, neither to the region nor to its inhabitants, since there are only compensations for private individuals”, complains Carlos Brull, mayor of ERC de Falset (Priorat) at the head of the region, who presented allegations the other day. “Our goal is to defend our agricultural, cultural and natural heritage”, he adds. His plans require taking advantage of the initiatives of the wine, industrial and local world, which is why he believes that the MAT does not favor the region at all.
