The Diputación de Álava submits allegations to three Solaria photovoltaic parks
- The Deputy reports indicate that the impact of the project Zierbena 2, 3 and 4 of the company Solaria on the territory is "unacceptable". After the expiry of the time limit for claims, the Basque Government will take the final decision. Solaria intends to install at least 25 photovoltaic parks in Álava. In October, a number of groups called for a demonstration against these demonstrations.
The Provincial Council of Álava has submitted four reports against the first three projects submitted by Solaria in Álava, carried out by different departments: The Departments of Agriculture, Environment and Culture and the Road Service. Each of the projects is analyzed in the reports, and as Alea and Berria de Álava have gathered, everyone opposes the three projects. According to the Diputación, the photovoltaic parks that Solaria intends to install in the area of Ribera Baja, Zigoitia and Iruña between Oka and Vitoria-Gasteiz would have a negative impact on land suitable for agriculture and livestock, on the environment and spatial planning.
“Low Quality” Solari Reports
The Member has also criticised the environmental impact reports submitted by the multinational Solaria. He has accused them of being "of poor quality" and of having "very significant deficiencies and errors", according to his words. He stressed that when measuring the impact, not only should solar panels be taken into account, but also all the infrastructure that is required. The Member expressly mentions the Very High Voltage Line that would cross the territory and lead the energy to Zierbena.
The time limit for claims remains open. So far, numerous city councils and councils have submitted their claims, and in July many associations and citizens' movements have submitted over 50,000 individual claims. The final decision is the Basque Government.
Minimum 25 projects and large counterposition
Prior to the Deputy, several agents of Álava have criticized that both the projects Solaria has in the territory and the company have "disappointed" when presenting them, among other reasons for presenting in a fragmented way what is a joint project to allow its approval. The journalist Estitxu Eizagirre summarized in this news article that “according to the data of the Basque Government, the requests of Solaria Eguzki Creativity SLU to install solar power plants in Álava are 25 and affect twelve localities. Of these, 24 are 49.89 MW or more of power: among them, they would total more than 1,234 MW and cover more than 3,455 hectares of land in the districts of Vitoria, Gorbeialdea and Añana. Solaria intends to bring this electric current to Bizkaia, building for it a high-voltage line of more than 100 kilometers.”
The UAGA trade union or the Lurra network have also denounced in recent months that Solaria has been using "blackmail" or "harassment" against small owners. In this interview, Unai Pascual, a member of the Gorbeialdea Babes platform, accused the company of generally using the “mafia strategy”. Sixteen associations have called for a demonstration against Solaria’s intentions for the next 26 October in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Environmental activist Mikel Álvarez has produced an exhaustive critical report on the wind macro-power plants that Repsol and Endesa intend to build in the vicinity of Arano and Hernani of the region. In his opinion, this is "the largest infrastructure of this kind that is... [+]
Recently we have had other arguments to convince us of the need for macro-projects in the surroundings of Euskal Herria. An example of this was the article published on the website of the EHNE of Bizkaia to one of the participants of the Ecosocial Jump initiative: "For... [+]