In a statement, the Spatial Planning and Environment Study Group (GEOTA) considered that the four projects “are not adequately considered in the environmental impact studies (EIA)” of each of the solar plants.

“There also appears to be a lack of strategic planning and little clarity about the technical feasibility of using the injection point in the Alqueva dam electricity transmission network for a total solar capacity that is more than double the injection capacity”.

GEOTA highlighted that there are four plants in the licensing phase for this territory, specifically Sobreira de Baixo, with an installed power of 242 MW (megawatts) and an area of ​​445 hectares, and Alqueva, with an installed power of 432 MW, in a plot of land measuring 570 hectares.

The Cristovão Colombo I plant, which will have an installed capacity of 474 MW and will occupy an area of ​​895 hectares, and the floating plant, with an installed capacity of 84 MW on an area of ​​250 hectares and which includes wind power of 70 MW, are the remaining plants. If the four projects go ahead, the environmental organisation said, the plants will have a total of 1.3 GW (gigawatt) of installed power (1,232 MW of photovoltaic and 70 MW of wind power) and will occupy a total area of ​​around 1,700 hectares.

“It is necessary to clarify the compatibility of the four projects to inject electricity into the Alqueva substation, ensuring network stability and a reduced level of production curtailment,” he highlighted. For GEOTA, these projects, if implemented, “will have negative, significant and partly irreversible impacts on soils, waterways, landscape, fauna and flora in a territory with relevant ecological value”.

Flora and fauna

“The EIAs highlight the presence of several endangered and iconic species of fauna and flora in the areas proposed for solar plants, including evidence of the recent presence of Iberian lynx,” he noted. According to the environmental organisation, the construction of the Sobreira de Baixo and Alqueva solar plants will involve a total of “the felling of 460 holm oaks and 22 adult cork oaks”.

“Considering the size of the projects, the mitigation and compensation measures, although relevant, are insufficient and have a reduced potential, which is poorly quantifiable and difficult to monitor in the long term”, adds GEOTA. On the other hand, according to GEOTA, the projects present “little compensation for the local socioeconomic economy, including in terms of job creation”, as “only two direct jobs are planned in the case of the Sobreira de Baixo plant and four in the Alqueva plant”.

“GEOTA urges promoters to increase their ambition in reducing the impacts of plants and compensating them, for example, by reducing the size of the area affected by the plant, increasing the area to be reforested”, he stressed. He added that he also asks them to make the plants compatible with other economic activities and to benefit local communities with energy rehabilitation interventions for homes and support for the installation of photovoltaic systems.

Lusa tried to contact the mayors of Moura, Vidigueira and Portel, all in the Alqueva area, for comment, but without success.