Following hot-on-the-heels of Rewilding Portugal, and backing up stiff opposition from local people and quite a few celebrities, several environmental organisations have spoken out today against the revised Sophia solar photovoltaic power station project (for the Beira Baixa) re-emphasising the mantra that the energy transition cannot be pushed through at the expense of Nature.
In a joint statement sent today to usa news agency, the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA), BirdLife, the Group for the Study of Spatial Planning and the Environment (GEOTA) and the League for the Protection of Nature (LPN) stress that, despite the reduction in the area occupied by solar panels, the revised project still presents significant environmental challenges.
One day after the second public consultation on the revised plan for the Sophia photovoltaic solar power station, covering the municipalities of Fundão, Idanha-a-Nova and Penamacor in Beira Baixa, Castelo Branco district, came to an end, environmentalists thus reaffirm their opposition to the construction of this solar power station that has prompted so much local opposition, backed by technical analysis.
They also highlight the need to protect holm oaks and cork oaks, preserve habitats, and safeguard ecological corridors that are vital to the region’s biodiversity.
According to SPEA-BirdLife’s analysis, the revised project could result in the felling or disruption of at least 2,473 holm oaks and cork oaks, including trees not accounted for by the developer along the perimeter fences. SPEA emphasised that experts estimate the felling of at least 1,646 protected trees, representing an increase of around 7 per cent compared with the previous project, despite the reduction in the area covered by solar panels.
Environmental NGOs also highlight one of the most significant concerns: loss of protected native trees, emphasisising that replacing them with new plantings “does not allow these functions to be restored within a timeframe equivalent to the power plant’s estimated 40-year lifespan”.
In September, the British multinational developer of the Sophia solar photovoltaic power station reduced the project’s installed capacity by 34% in the revised proposal it submitted to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) authority.
“With regard to installed capacity, there is a 34% reduction, from 867 megawatts peak to around 573 megawatts peak. In this context, the project’s fenced-off area is reduced by 32%, and the number of fenced-off sections decreases from 44 to 22, a 50% reduction, Lightsource BP explained in information provided to Lusa news agency.
The initial project had an installed capacity of 867 megawatts peak.
The photovoltaic modules occupied 390 hectares, with 435 hectares including all infrastructure and a total fenced-off area of 1,734 hectares.
Environmentalists argue that, despite being a “smaller” power station, it still has “a huge ecological footprint”, as its site is part of the UNESCO Naturtejo World Geopark, situated in a region of high ecological value, between the International Tejo and the Malcata and Gardunha mountain ranges.
“The transformation of this landscape threatens the connectivity between natural areas and could jeopardise the survival of endangered species. Among the birds potentially affected are the Iberian imperial eagle and the white-bellied sand martin, both classified as critically endangered, as well as the black vulture, the Egyptian vulture and the black stork.”
According to the organisations that have signed the document, the project’s effects extend beyond biodiversity.
“The removal of vegetation, soil compaction and degradation, landscape alteration and the loss of land used for agricultural and forestry purposes will have consequences for local communities and for economic activities such as agriculture, farming and livestock rearing, and nature and cultural tourism,” they explain.
SPEA, BirdLife, GEOTA and LPN argue that renewable energy production is essential for combating climate change, but its siting must respect natural values and local communities.
“Priority should be given to areas that are already developed or degraded, preserving habitats of high ecological, landscape and geological value.”
This, however, very much like the project being fought relentlessly by locals in Covas do Barroso (Boticas municipality), is something that has had the government’s ‘blessing’, and thus it has been particularly complicated to counter.
Source material: LUSA