A total of 33 months (closer to three than two years) is how long it takes to process a eolico Park on Catalonia, from the date the Administration admits the project until the essential environmental impact statement. This time period is 57% higher than the 22 months established by Royal Decree Law 23/2020. The roadmap announced last Wednesday by the ‘president’ Pere Aragonès, and the ‘Minister’ of Climate Action, Teresa Jordà; which is supported by prioritizing local production communities and create a public company, has triggered the alarms of the sector.
“We are happy because the possibility of a moratorium“(something that the CUP despite the fact that Catalonia is at the tail of installed green power), but at the same time we are concerned because projects will not be expedited “, says Jaume Morron, manager of the employer’s association EolicCat. Since last May 17, a de facto moratorium has been applied, since hardly any projects have been processed through the paper created by the decree of 2019 to evaluate each project in advance, regulations that the Government now modifies and will probably approve this Tuesday. The paralysis of the sector in Catalonia accumulates more than a decade.
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In addition, as of April 24, there may be an avalanche of lawsuits against the Generalitat because as of that date the projects on which the Administration has not pronounced or issued the environmental impact statement, which means that they will lose their network connection rights, they affirm from the Observatori d’Energies Renovables de Catalunya. That would force them from scratch, in case they want to continue with the project. In Catalonia, more than 4,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, four times the installed power to date, are in this situation, according to the Obervatori. The goal for 2030 is to reach more than 5,200 in wind, compared to the current 1,271; already 6,279 of Solar photovoltaic, compared to the current 344, which, at the current rate, is very far, highlights the sector.
The Catalan Executive plan is committed to a greater weight of society, that is, the territory, in the decision on the implementation of renewable energies by establishing that the procedures be accelerated if there is with the support of 50% of the landowners and even more quickly if 85% is reached. It also imposes the possibility of participation to the local world so that it assumes at least 20% of the ownership of the project or its financing and the objective of creating a public energy generating company. The problem is that promoting installations of up to 50MW, over which the Generalitat has powers, is not enough to achieve the objectives of decarbonization and there are promoters who have chosen to add projects so that the procedure goes directly to the central administration and the guidelines of the Generalitat remain, in this way, on paper, warns the sector.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com