The environmental organizations opposed to the installation of a floating marine wind farm off the coast of Empordà , Stop Macro Parc Eòlic Marà and Iaden-Salvem l’Empordà , have filed a contentious administrative appeal against the Royal Decree of February 28 that approved the Marine Space Management Plans (POEM).
This instrument establishes in which areas of the Spanish geography offshore wind power can be implemented and off the Alt and Baix Empordà coast, a tablet of about 250 square kilometers is established for this purpose.
The Supreme Court has admitted the appeal for processing, which means the start of the legal battle of the opponents of the implementation of floating wind turbines on the Costa Brava. There are six proposals on the table, although the most advanced is that of the Parc Tramuntana, which contemplates the installation of 33 wind turbines that would generate 45% of the current electricity consumption of the demarcation.
The lawyer for the environmental entities, Eduard de Ribot, explains that they want Royal Decree 150/2023 of February 28, which approved the POEMs of the five Spanish marine demarcations that contemplate the development of offshore wind power in the region, to be annulled. Spanish coast.
And in particular they demand that the specific plan for the Levantine-Balearic area be annulled, in which the Golf de Roses area is included as a compatible area for the implementation of wind power. “We are convinced that the POEM is incompatible with the ecological values ​​and protection of the biodiversity of the area,” says de Ribot, who argues that they will reach the “last European instances” on this issue.
The arguments that the ecologists use in the lawsuit presented to the Supreme Court are several. In the first place, they explain that the precautionary principle has not been respected. “The risk of floating offshore wind technology is untested and there is no certainty that it will work,” he says.
The telecommunications engineer and member of the platform Jaume Darné explains that in Europe the only experience with floating offshore wind power is on the Portuguese coast. “Fishermen in the areas see how many fish that used those areas where there are now mills to breed and have fry are fleeing; we do not know the impact this would have on Roses,” says Iaden spokesman Raúl DomÃnguez.
In the lawsuit they also explain that “the duty to protect biodiversity is violated” and recall that in the area there are up to eight protected areas and two closed areas. They also maintain that there is an infringement of the principle of integration of the Xarxa Natura 2000.
They add that POEM has not sufficiently justified the inclusion of the Empordà area for the implementation of offshore wind power. “Between 2009 and February 28, 2023, it was an area excluded for the implementation of this type of energy; and we do not see in the POEM a plus of motivation to include it now”, argues de Ribot. Finally, they also argue that other alternatives with less impact have not been evaluated.
It is not the only appeal filed against the POEM. The Platform in Defense of Fishing and Ecosystems, which brings together the fishermen’s associations in the north of the peninsula, also opposes the POEM.
The spokesman for the Stop Macro Parc Eòlic Marà platform, Jordi Ponjoan, affirms that “the installation will mark the future of the Empordà “. He points out that it will affect the landscape, the natural environment, tourism and the fishing sector. He makes it clear that they are not against renewable energy, but that they will not accept “aggressive macro projects that respond to speculative interests.”
