There are only a couple of days left for nature enthusiasts in this country to register their opinions on the ‘revised Sophia photovoltaic solar power plant project’ which has been criticised for still posing “significant risks”.
With citizens groups appealing for support over social media, the association Rewilding Portugal has announced that it maintains its unfavorable opinion of the revised power plant project – stressing that risks to biodiversity, ecological connectivity and landscape integrity persist, despite the reduction in the size of the project.
In a statement the association explains: “Rewilding Portugal maintains its opposition to the Sophia Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant project and the associated Very High Voltage Power Line, even after the extensive revision presented by the developer under Article 16 of the Legal Framework for Environmental Impact Assessment”.
The Sophia solar power plant covers the municipalities of Fundão, Idanha-a-Nova and Penamacor, in the district of Castelo Branco.
Rewilding Portugal – dedicated to nature restoration – stresses that its position stems “from the persistence of significant ecological risks in a territory of high natural value, particularly important for connectivity between the ecosystems of Beira Interior and the cross-border natural areas of Portugal and Spain”.
Although it acknowledges that the new proposal introduces significant improvements, “it is still far from being environmentally acceptable”.
“We continue to argue that the energy transition is urgent and essential, but it cannot be achieved at the expense of biodiversity, the integrity of ecosystems and the capacity for wildlife recovery. The climate emergency cannot serve as a justification for deepening the other major environmental crisis of our time: the accelerated loss of biodiversity“.
The revision reduces the installed capacity from 867 to 573 megawatts-peak (MWp), the area occupied by photovoltaic panels from 390 to 250 hectares and the fenced area from around 1,737 to 1,177 hectares.
The project now also provides for a single 400-kilovolt (kV) very high voltage power line, approximately 22 kilometers long, instead of the two initially planned, with three installation sectors eliminated and distances from some settlements and ecologically sensitive areas increased.
Although the removal of panels from the Raia Norte ecological corridor, the reduction in the area occupied within the Raia Sul corridor and the greater distance from particularly sensitive areas for threatened species represent “steps forward that should be recognised”, Rewilding Portugal insists that “the scale of the revision cannot conceal the scale of the project that remains“.
“We are still talking about an infrastructure project with 1,177 hectares of fenced area, 250 hectares of photovoltaic panels and a new 400 kV power line, approximately 22 kilometers long, located in a region whose ecological importance extends far beyond its administrative boundaries”.
Among the main concerns identified is the possibility of habitat fragmentation and restrictions on the movements of species such as the Iberian wolf and the Iberian lynx, whose dispersal and future expansion depend on the existence of ecologically connected territories.
Rewilding Portugal warns that “birdlife remains exposed to risks that have not disappeared“, indicating that the southern end of the power plant still partially overlaps with an area classified as highly critical for birds, associated with the black stork.
“Keeping a new very high voltage power line will continue to pose a collision risk to birdlife”, it points out.
Another of Rewilding Portugal’s central concerns remains related to habitat transformation and the loss of native vegetation, since, although the revised project includes the estimated planting of 40,000 trees as a compensation measure, “planting trees is not the same as conserving an ecosystem“.
Another aspect considered critical is the cumulative impact of the Sophia power plant with other existing or planned energy projects in the region, including the Fajarda, Juncal and Fundão-Penamacor power plants.
According to the organisation, the concentration of these infrastructures must be assessed in an integrated manner, also warning that the scale of the project could have consequences for local communities and for economic activities associated with the promotion of natural heritage, namely sustainable agriculture and nature tourism.
Because it considers that significant ecological risks and doubts about the effectiveness of mitigation and compensation measures remain, Rewilding Portugal believes that the environmental conditions necessary to approve the project in its proposed configuration have not been met.
“We call on the Portuguese Environment Agency, the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests and the other competent authorities to give due importance to the ecological risks that remain identified, particularly the need to ensure functional connectivity between the ecosystems of this border region”, says the statement.
The reality however is that Portugal has a government that is right behind the project’s promoters, Lightsource BP, and already used to discounting local opposition (viz. decisions like the construction of a desalination plant behind one of Albufeira’s most iconic beaches).
Campaigners in the Beira Baixa Alerta Facebook group stress: “There is no place for megalomaniac projects of this kind! Let us not allow a reduction in the project to be mistaken for a resolution of its problems! The public has the right to know about, question and challenge the impacts that remain.
“Further information, project documents and the opportunity to take part in the official Public Consultation are available on the Participa portal.
“Yes to solar. No to destroying the land. Well-planned renewables: on rooftops, on already developed land, in energy communities. Not on top of living ecosystems.
“You only have until October 21 to object to the Sophia Solar Park, in the second public consultation. You don’t need to live in the region to take part.
“It only takes a few minutes. Thank you.”
Source material: Lusa/ Beira Baixa Facebook