Energy Central-News Article

Currently, there are 45,000 (MW) of wind and photovoltaic energy installed in Spain. The Government's objective, set out in the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan, is to reach 90,000 MW by 2030. However, permits for access and connection to the transmission grid for new installations already total close to 150,000 MW. And this has only just begun.

To facilitate the implementation of new renewable projects and streamline their connection to the electricity supply system, the Government has just created the Electric Power Projects Division. Attached to the Secretary of State for Energy, the main function of this new administrative body is to act as a one-stop shop to streamline the processing of administrative authorizations for new renewable installations, with the aim, among others, of "significantly reducing the impact of the gas price crisis on electricityprices".

These access permits in turn translate into a huge number of projects. If we add those granted by the General State Administration, which processes those that exceed 50,000 MW of power or those that extend over land belonging to several autonomous communities, and those approved by the latter, we would be talking about almost 1,500 renewable energy projects approved or about to be approved: from mega wind turbine and photovoltaic panel parks to small installations.

Such an accumulation of files has completely overwhelmed the administration's management capacity, forming a bureaucratic bottleneck that is now to be dissolved with the creation of the new agency. The government's slogan, which has been joined by the autonomous communities, is to eliminate administrative obstacles and speed up permits to sow Spain with wind and photovoltaic installations: all at the same time and everywhere.

This is a very good way of meeting the decarbonization targets set by the EU, something that, as Brussels recognizes, will be impossible without accelerating the energy transition towards a model in which renewables are a fundamental part of the basket of technologies. And this, fortunately for everyone, is already happening in the EU as a whole, where wind and photovoltaic have already become the main sources of electricity generation, with 22% of the total: two points ahead of gas and six ahead of coal. In Spain, PV grew by more than 20% in 2021, taking a giant stride to almost match Germany.

The risks of a free bar

The problem is that this rate of implementation, this cinematic government slogan of "everything at once and everywhere", raises the risk that the development of renewables may conflict with nature conservation, the protection of biodiversity and the way of life in the rural world, as pointed out by the Spanish Association of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and demonstrated by the constant demonstrations against mega-parks.

This entity, which ensures that renewable energy installation projects comply with environmental protection regulations, pointed out in a recent and harsh communiqué that the Government's plans represent "the temporary dismantling of the legal-normative framework that represents environmental assessment as an instrument of environmental and social protection, eliminating the safeguard tools that were available to ensure that renewable energy projects are approved with minimum guarantees of protection and sustainability".

In the opinion of the EIA " multiple photovoltaic mega-projects and wind farms are currently being considered in Spain with a potential impact on tens of thousands of hectares of land, which in turn require power lines of many kilometers, whose territorial, social and environmental impact is unquestionable".

In order to avoid such impacts, it is necessary that the procedures are always carried out from an environmental perspective and with respect for nature, otherwise we would not be talking about clean energies.

It is not a question of slowing down the necessary development of renewables, a basic tool for mitigating climate change and avoiding the volatility of electricity tariffs, but of guaranteeing, as the EIA points out, "adequate decision making to avoid impacts on biodiversity, landscape, local communities and territorial structure" to prevent "the temporary savings sought from ending up implying a relaxation of environmental requirements whose harmful consequences at the territorial and social level will weigh down our development and that of future generations".