The municipalities of western Asturias are not willing to be mere spectators of the expansion of wind farms in their territory. They have keys to close the door to projects that they consider harmful to their councils and they have begun to use them. The Principality has been forced to abort the processing of three wind farms in Taramundi and Boal after the town councils of these two councils presented unfavorable urban planning reports. For the first time, the depopulated councils of the West force the Principality to knock down wind giants.
The aborted projects are the Xugus, Teixo and El Tronco wind farms, promoted by the companies Energías Renovables Españolas 2006, in the first case, and Green Capital in the other two. This last company belongs to the Capital Energy group, which is the one with the most parks in the pipeline in Asturias. In the region, 24 parks with 531 mills are currently operating. All concentrated in the western part of the region. And at the end of last month, a total of 52 parks with 300 mills were being processed, all also in the West, where there is a better wind resource and the Principality’s management guidelines allow for greater occupancy.
The normative.
The Principality is the competent administration in the processing of wind farms with a power of less than 50 megawatts, which are the majority, while the Ministry for Ecological Transition is in charge of those with more than 50 megawatts. But in all cases, the promoters need the approval of the municipalities. To obtain administrative authorization, developers must request and provide an urban planning report from the affected municipalities on the possible implementation of the wind farm in their municipal area. If the report is not issued in 30 days, it can be supplied with a copy of the request to continue with the processing. The period of one month is very tight for most of the councils in the West – which have few technical resources and personnel – so their lack of response within that period was considered by the promoting companies as a positive silence. However, the regulations themselves indicate that if the urban planning report is negative, it may be provided by the municipalities at any time prior to the granting of the administrative authorization.
Sentence.
In addition, a ruling by the Superior Court of Justice of Asturias (TSJA), which LA NUEVA ESPAÑA advanced, limited the use of positive silence in these cases because “this general rule that theoretically should inspire administrative action is excepted when it comes to the approval of planning instruments”. The TSJA endorsed on that occasion the decision of the Villanueva de Oscos City Council to stop the Ecorpio wind farm, also from the Capital Energy group. “The Chamber confirmed that the power of urban planning grants city councils a margin of maneuver regarding the installation of wind farms, so that they are not obliged to simply accept the project presented by the company,” Alejandro Huergo said about that ruling. , Professor of Administrative Law who defended the Villanueva de Oscos City Council through the University of Oviedo Foundation. This path has now been taken by other municipalities to tear down parks without having to go to court.
Boal’s case.
In July 2008, the company Energías Renovables Españolas 2006 requested prior administrative authorization for the Xugus wind farm, with six wind turbines to be installed in La Pena dos Xugos, in Boal. In September 2020, the Principality selected the company’s application for the establishment of the park and almost two years later, the Boal City Council presented a municipal agreement requesting the non-granting of administrative authorization to the Xugus Park. The Principality reviewed the file and found that there was no urban planning report, for which reason it asked the City Council for clarification on the municipal agreement and the latter informed it of the existence of a negative urban planning report due to the impact of the park. The regional government opened a period for the promoter to present allegations and since he did not do so, he has now resolved to end the process.
The case of Taramundi.
A similar process occurred with the Teixo wind farms, with three wind turbines in Monte de Busnovo, in Taramundi, and El Tronco, with four wind turbines in Pico da Portela, in Taramundi and San Tirso de Abres. In these cases, the requests for administrative authorization from the company Green Capital were registered in 2019 and two years later, the Taramundi City Council provided unfavorable urban planning reports. In this case, the promoter did present allegations. He assured that the reports were partial, that they assumed the “recommendation” to locate the mills more than 1,000 meters from population entities as mandatory, that the principle of proportionality must be respected, that the promotion of renewable energies was necessary and that the decision to be adopted by the Principality should be motivated.
However, the regional government responded that it is not up to “oversee or question the urban report issued by the Taramundi town hall in the exercise of its powers; whether its content and motivations are shared or not.” And he added that “he is forced to issue a resolution ending the procedure” to authorize the parks.
Fishermen and the PP protest against offshore wind power in Oviedo
Asturian fishermen will protest today at noon in Oviedo against the Maritime Space Management Plans (POEM) approved by the Government of Spain and which reserve three areas off the Asturian coast (two in the West and another in Gijón) for the installation of offshore wind farms. The fishermen emphasize that this use will negatively affect the fishing grounds. The protest will be held in front of the Government Delegation in Asturias and will be joined by leaders of the main opposition force in Asturias, the Popular Party. The general secretary of the PP of Asturias and number one for the West, Álvaro Queipo, will attend the demonstration, as will the deputy secretary for Rural Affairs and head of the list for the East, Luis Venta, and the regional deputy Javier Brea.