Tracjusa's controversial gasification plant in Juneda will begin operations in early 2027.

Juneda (Les Garrigues)Tracjusa, the renovated Juneda slurry treatment plant (Garrigues) that will use a new gasification system produced with solid fuels from urban waste, will begin operating in the first quarter of 2027. This was announced today by the managers of the GAP livestock cooperative, which with the Griñó Group is co-owned by another group that requires the combustion of domestic waste supplied by Griñó (up to a maximum of 45,000 tons per year).

Precisely this combustion (which the most critical call incineration) is what has generated (for the last ten years) a controversy over a possible increase in pollutants in the environment, which ranchers deny"This change will lead to an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the elimination of fossil fuel consumption," says the cooperative's president, Eduard Cau. Gasification, the farmers promise, will only generate steam (to heat the plant) and ash (which will be taken to a landfill), while any other emissions will be constantly monitored by the government.

A few months after obtaining the municipal building permitThe project's developers have already begun earthworks to build a new facility, which will cost €25 million. In addition to the gasification plant, which will generate heat to treat and dry the slurry, the project includes the expansion of the biogas unit and the incorporation of a new system that will inject biomethane into the public grid. All of this will help to obtain greater efficiency from livestock manure. Tracjusa currently treats up to 90,000 tons of slurry annually, to which the new project will add another 50,000 tons of organic waste from poultry farms and the local agri-food industry.

Sources from the livestock cooperative explain that the gas they currently produce from cogeneration costs €30 per MWh (megawatt hour), while that from biogas amounts to almost €90. With this, combined with the increase in fertilizer production also derived from manure—the annual production will increase from 4,000 to 18,000 tons of fertilizer to be marketed—the cooperative will be able to better diversify the profitability of its plant. Currently, 98% of Tracjusa's income comes from energy sales alone. The new model will reduce this figure to 70% (with more profitable biogas) and increase the figure from fertilizer sales to 30%.

Opposition to the project remains.

Meanwhile, dozens of town councils and associations in Ponent continue to express their opposition to the project. The environmental group Ipcena filed a lawsuit against the building permit before the administrative court before the summer. Separately, the Pobles Vius collective, made up of organizations that oppose several energy projects in the region (including Tracjusa), has called for a demonstration in the city of Lleida on October 5th. However, Eduard Cau claims to have strong support. "We feel very protected by our environment," he says.

The GAP livestock farmers emphasize that they have all the necessary permits, both planning and environmental. "We are simply applying the authorization they have given us, which I believe has been particularly demanding, because the administration has acted very prudently and has examined our project from front to back," argues Cau.