Satisfaction with the suspension of the large high voltage lines that were to cross Tarragona

TarragonaThe three large very high voltage lines that were to cross the territory to bring electricity from Aragon to Catalonia will not be built. The largest of the three, which was to cross the Tarragona district to connect Valmuel (Teruel) with Begues (Baix Llobregat) through a 287 kilometre cable (151 of them in Catalonia), has been rejected because it has not received a favourable report from the Generalitat of Catalonia, as published by the Official State Gazette (BOE) on Monday, February 10. That line alone envisaged the construction of 475 towers up to seventy meters high (like a 20-story building) to support the wiring. The line that was to transport electricity from Almudébar (Huesca) to Isona (Pallars Jussà) also does not have the approval of the Generalitat, so it will not be built either. There is a third line, which was also to cross Tarragona to bring the electric current to Rubí, on which the Generalitat has no say and only needs authorization from the Ministry for Ecological Transition. Even so, all the sources consulted take it for granted that it will not go ahead either. "If the territory does not want them, it is very difficult for them to prosper," acknowledge sources close to this process, which dates back to 2021.

These three projects, promoted by the Aragonese company Forestalia, had aroused many misgivings in the territory due to their significant visual impact. Since Forestalia began the process to bring these very high voltage lines (VHT) forward in 2021, Allegations have rained down from all sides. In September of that same year, an institutional event was even held at the Palau Bofarull in Reus to announce the presentation of the objections, in which thirty town councils, seven regional councils and the Tarragona Provincial Council participated. The Climate Action department of the previous Government, for its part, also presented objections. "We are very satisfied to have contributed to preventing these planned high-voltage lines from being built," explains the president of the Provincial Council, Noemí Llauradó, in the ARA newspaper. "We have always said that we defend that the energy transition must be done in an orderly manner, listening to all parties and keeping in mind the real needs of the local world, especially the rural world," she adds.

The first vice-president of the Alt Camp Regional Council and mayor of Alcover, Robert Figueras, also welcomes the fact that the high-tension lines of Forestalia will not be built, which, according to his complaint, "attempted to camouflage a very high-tension line to transport energy as if it were an evacuation line." In Spain, the company that owns the entire high-tension electricity network and is responsible for transporting energy is Red Eléctrica, a private company 20% owned by the State, which has total control of the company by owning what is known as the golden share. Red Eléctrica is the only company that can transport electricity to the substations that are spread throughout the territory and, from there, there are already energy companies that can distribute it to the places where it is consumed. Forestalia argued that its intention was not to "transport" electricity (Red Eléctrica's competence) but to dump the surplus energy it had in Aragon into the network. However, they wanted to dump it into the Begues substation through a 287 km line.

Despite the satisfaction at the rejection of the Forestalia lines, there is still some concern in the area about future new lines that could continue to "carve up the territory," according to Figueras. "We have been able to knock down the Forestalia lines, which are private, but there is already one from Red Eléctrica that will be more difficult to knock down, which passes through the Selva del Camp and will also cross Catalan territory," he warns. From his point of view, we must support renewables, but involving "the entire territory," not only the Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l'Ebre, where there are already three nuclear reactors that supply the country with energy and also the vast majority of wind and photovoltaic power stations. "As far as I know, there is sunshine all over the country," he says. Figueras calls on the Government to draft the PLATER (Territorial Sectorial Plan for Renewable Energies) which, in his opinion, should work so that each territory generates the energy it consumes.

Environmentalists have a similar position. The president of the Study and Protection Group of Catalan Ecosystems (Gepec), Xavier Jiménez, also welcomes the fact that these lines have been stopped because "the MATs are for transporting energy very far from where it is generated" and the most sustainable model is to "bring production closer to consumption areas." Jiménez proposes, for example, filling the roofs of buildings in large cities and industrial estates with photovoltaic panels. "In Catalonia, industrial estates occupy 29,000 hectares and 13,000 are in the metropolitan area of Barcelona," he says. The environmentalist spokesman recalls article 19 of law 16/2017 which establishes that it is necessary to "promote renewable energies, which must be developed, whenever possible, taking advantage of spaces already altered by human activity in order to minimize unnecessary occupation of the territory." "We are doing the opposite," he laments. The agricultural union Unió de Pagesos, which also filed objections, welcomed the rejection of the planned lines and called for the power lines to be buried or to take advantage of "the route marked by other infrastructures."

Is there enough energy?

The announcement of the rejection of the Forestalia lines has coincided with the approval in the Congress of Deputies of a proposal by the PP, which was approved thanks to the abstentions of ERC and Junts, extend the life of nuclear power plants This affects the Ascó and Vandellòs plants, which, according to the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC), must close between 2030 and 2035. One of the arguments of those who support keeping the nuclear power plants open coincides with what the Forestalia company defended and is based on the fact that Catalonia could stay open. "We will not be left in the dark," says Jaume Morron, an expert in renewables and honorary member of Eoliccat, the employers' association of the wind sector. Morron is convinced that "if Catalonia does its homework, it will be able to more than supply the energy it is currently using from nuclear power." And "doing one's homework," for Morron, means firmly betting on renewables. The expert gives the example of Holland, a country that has "twice the electricity demand of Catalonia and that in six years has gone from generating 15% of renewable energy to more than 50%."

Those responsible for Red Eléctrica, the company that owns the high-voltage network and energy transport, are also certain that there is no need to suffer for the energy supply. "Red Eléctrica guarantees that demand will always be covered," explain sources from this company and assure that even if the nuclear plants are closed, the supply is guaranteed.

54% of the energy produced in Catalonia comes from nuclear power plants and only 15% is renewable. Law 16/2017 establishes that by 2030, 50% of the energy produced in Catalonia must be of renewable origin.