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4,000 allegations of the Government's renewable plan
  • Before the Basque Government’s headquarters in Vitoria-Gasteiz, many environmental groups have concentrated on Thursday, together with the presentation of allegations to the Sectoral Territorial Plan for Renewable Energy that would involve the "colossal" development of wind power plants and photovoltaic polygons: "We certainly face historic decisions regarding the energy transition."
Urko Apaolaza Avila @urkoapaolaza 2023ko uztailaren 20a

In the Defense of the Earth, which brings together different ecological groups and movements, Euskal Herria Bizirik met on Thursday morning in the hall of the central headquarters of the Basque Government in the Lakua district of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

In addition, they have submitted allegations to the Sectoral Territorial Plan for Renewable Energies (PTS) that the government is in the process of "requesting the suspension of this plan, which provides for the establishment of dozens of large-scale wind power plants and photovoltaic polygons in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa".

In total, over 4,000 allegations have been submitted to the PTS, according to the URL0, of which approximately 3,500 have been processed by Euskal Herria Bizirik. In the presentation, Rebeka González de Alaiza and Mikel Alvarez mentioned that the processing of such a plan is "abusive", as it drives a model that favors large energy companies and investment funds.

ARGIA has been able to obtain a report on the claim in which the authors have highlighted in various ways the harm that the plan could cause and the shortcomings that the procedure itself presents.

Tripling the objectives set

Thus, according to the claim, although the Regional Energy Sustainability Act aims to promote "local Community energy management", the latter plan puts this intention in the hands of "large-scale infrastructure".

The renewable plan triples the targets set in the current energy strategy in terms of energy production from 3.4 to 11.5 GWh

Moreover, the Renewables PTS triples the energy production targets set by the current energy strategy from 3.4 to 11.5 GWh: "It is unjustifiable that a plan promoted by the Administration thus exceeds the forecasts set by the same Administration in the current energy strategy".

The report also details the environmental impacts that wind and photovoltaic plants would have on landscape, vegetation and fauna, biodiversity and cultural heritage, among others: "The myth of green MW, the energy transition and the decarbonisation of the economy conceal a less heroic, less "sustainable" reality than the official account says," says the report of the environmental groups in Vitoria.

Historic decisions

The complainants have also denounced the procedural errors and shortcomings. For example, the poor quality of the plans presented for the elaboration of PTS and put into public information.

In short, for Euskal Herria Bizirik "we are undoubtedly faced with historic decisions regarding the energy transition".

They have recalled that many global analysts are warning that in the coming decades the energy consumption of today's society will have to be reduced by 80% and that in this context renewable energies can be used to maintain a "hyper-industrial" society, with a "colossal" development of wind and photovoltaic power plants, or to create another economic and social model, less energy-intensive and meeting the real needs of the communities.