Boom in requests for large wind farms via the Ministry
15 December, 2020
by OEGA
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Up until now, all the wind farms in Galicia have had less than 50 MW. This is why they were authorized by the Xunta de Galicia. However, a few years ago some promoters began the procedure requesting authorization from the Ministry for several wind farms. Little is presently known about these initial attempts. Over the last year, the authorization process from Madrid has gained momentum.
The Galician Wind Observatory monitors the two fundamental sources allowing us access to the status of these wind farm procedures:
The electronic headquarters of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, where you can access the documentation for each of the wind farms in process, clicking here. We have currently accounted for 36 of them.
The Official State Gazette. No wind farm planned in Galician lands has reached the State Gazette yet. This means no prior authorization (the first phase of the authorization procedure that requires publication in the Gazette) for wind farms over 50 MW in Galician lands has been requested yet.
See the attached map for the main characteristics of these 36 wind farms. We also include some additional information in the Table accompanying this news release.
As may be seen, the wind farms in process total more than 2,500 MW, representing over half of the installed capacity in Galicia in 2020. The most active promoter in this route is observed to be Greenalia, with approximately 1,000 MW. The largest wind farm is the one of 170.5 MW proposed by Desarrollos Renovables Iberia Gamma SL, which intends to locate it in eastern Galicia. The planned wind turbines range from 3 MW to 6.2 MW. These wind turbines, of unknown unit power in Galicia, are the ones proposed by EDP Renovables for two wind farms in the province of A Coruña.
The legal framework regulating the authorization of wind farms at the level of the Spanish government is different from the one in Galicia. Among other differences, we would like to point out the following: the environmental impact assessment and its declaration are prior to the start of the request for the wind farm building authorization; this authorization, including annexed facilities (the energy transmission line) is carried out in a single administrative procedure; there is no express procedure in public information.
According to Law 21/2013 of 9 December on environmental assessment, all projects seeking authorization by the Ministry will be subjected to ordinary environmental evaluation. Optionally, some promoters have requested that the environmental body issue a document on the scope of the Environmental Impact Study. All requests for wind farms, as established in article 34 of the aforementioned Law, must be subject to prior actions in consultation with several administrations and interested individuals. All the projects presented to the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge are in one of these two phases.