Catalonia does not have enough capacity to ensure the renewable energy that will be needed after the closure of the nuclear power plants – expected in 2030 and 2035 -, which is why the central government authorized in the summer, provisionally, the private construction project of three very high voltage lines (MAT) from Aragon to transport this energy, but this project is rejected by the Government, by a large part of the affected territory, and now by the majority of Catalan parties.
By means of an ERC motion, the Catalan Chamber yesterday reflected its opposition to these infrastructures that would cover 338 km with towers of more than 60 meters through 64 municipalities and 13 Catalan counties.
The rejection of ERC, Junts, the CUP and the Commons is due to the fact that these lines “trench” the territory, are of private origin – they are managed by the Aragonese company Forestalia -, they are an attempt against Catalonia’s energy “sovereignty” and they do not respond to the “democratized and maximum territorial balance and complicity” energy model.
In addition, these parties accuse the Central Government of acting with disloyalty in the administrative processing of these projects, despite the fact that the Ministry of Ecological Transition has left this construction in the hands of the Ministry of Climate Action headed by David Mascort, so that if its biodiversity reports that the Generalitat still has to present are negative, the project will not go ahead.
In any case, the underlying problem does not disappear. Even if the Government opposes the construction of these MATs, Catalonia faces the challenge of securing the country’s energy demand with renewables and meeting the set objectives: achieving that by 2030 50% of electricity demand will be meet with renewable energy and reach climate neutrality by 2050.
ERC, with the support of Junts la CUP and En Comú Podem, has taken up the fight against the three lines of the MAT, while employers and the PSC, who abstained yesterday in rejecting the MAT, warn that although this project is not the most appropriate, it would seem necessary if Catalonia’s delay in renewables persists.
The motion approved in Parliament urges the Central Executive to “act before the large electricity companies to regain control of the distribution”, and in the case of the MATs, commits to “take all the necessary administrative and legal measures” to appeal against the administrative authorizations for the construction of these lines.
