How much solar mega-plants take up: researchers warn of impact of photovoltaic boom

Source:  ElPais, with Clemente Álvarez and Mariano Zafra

The Ministry for Ecological Transition considers that the projects planned for 2030 require a very small part of the territory on a national scale, but admits its concern about excessive concentration in some points.

In 2019, the largest photovoltaic plant in Europe came into service in Mula (Murcia), with 494 megawatts (MW) of power and a surface area of 1,000 hectares. It was a short reign, because in 2020, the Nuñez de Balboa mega power plant in Usagre (Badajoz), an installation of 1.4 million solar panels that reaches 500 MW and covers an area of 1,000 hectares, started operating. But this one will not last long as the largest either, as another even larger photovoltaic plant is already under construction between Torrecillas de la Tiesa and Aldeacentenera (Cáceres), the Francisco Pizarro, with 590 MW and 1,300 hectares. And there are many more: in Escatrón (Zaragoza), a photovoltaic complex and other large plants have been installed, making a total of nine, which together total 420 MW and occupy 1,400 hectares.

In order to combat climate change, it is essential to continue increasing the amount of photovoltaic energy, a renewable energy source that not only does not generate greenhouse gases, but also uses the sun, which is in surplus in Spain, as a resource. But what is the impact on the territory of this boom in solar power plants?

In December, 23 CSIC scientists signed a letter in the journal Science in which they warned of the loss of biodiversity that could be caused by the construction of mega photovoltaic and wind farms, especially in terms of steppe birds. Some of these same researchers and other university academics now call in an article in EL PAÍS for "more renewables, but with brains". "Photovoltaic is nothing new in Spain, but before we talked about solar farms, which were just a few hectares, what has changed now is the scale, it is brutal," says Eladio García de la Morena, one of the more than 30 researchers who signed this new text, a specialist linked to the Ecology Group of the Autonomous University of Madrid, who also works for a company that provides environmental consultancy for this type of renewable projects.

Although all these plants must first go through an environmental assessment process, as this consultant points out, who says that in 2020 he analysed hundreds of thousands of hectares of the country in search of locations for photovoltaic plants, "the problem is the lack of planning". "The Administration receives projects that may fit in many places individually, but when in a municipality or a region you find a lot of projects of this size, you have accumulated effects that are very difficult to assess, you can't just do a case-by-case analysis, you need an overall view," says García de la Morena.

Last December, the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco) presented maps that zone the territory according to its environmental sensitivity to this type of project (if an area is very sensitive, it means that its environmental values make it unsuitable for locating these plants there). According to this mapping tool, 36% of the country has a low environmental sensitivity for the installation of photovoltaic plants and 33% has a maximum sensitivity. Likewise, in a very preliminary estimate, Teresa Ribera's department calculates that to meet the growth targets for this technology in 2030, it would be sufficient to occupy 0.43% of the low sensitivity areas.

"In terms of the entire national territory, it is not that it is going to be filled with photovoltaic panels, far from it, it would be a very, very, very small part, but there is some concern about the concentration of projects in a certain area," says Ismael Aznar, director general of Environmental Quality and Assessment at Miteco. As he says, these environmental sensitivity maps have been drawn up to contribute to the orderly deployment of renewables, "fundamentally wind and, above all, photovoltaic, which is where we see a very significant volume of projects coming up".

By the end of 2020 there were already 9,071 MW of photovoltaic power installed in Spain and the target set for 2030 by the National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan (PNIEC) is to reach 39,181 MW. However, by 30 November, Red Eléctrica de España (REE) had received an avalanche of applications for access to install 211,900 MW of photovoltaic power. Although about half of them (98,000 MW) have already been denied, access permission has also been granted for another 95,900 MW. This does not mean that they will be built, but it shows the pressure to install PV. "The idea is that only mature projects will progress and those that do not meet the milestones will fall by the wayside, but if they do, there will come a time when a selection will have to be made," says Aznar. "The first ones that have the corresponding authorisations will be the ones that will be carried out," he adds.

The percentage of occupation of a space can be a misleading indicator in a very large territory. As Alexandra Delgado Jiménez, professor and senior researcher of the At-the-oUTSET Group at the University of Nebrija, explains, according to 2018 data from the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, everything built in Spain - such as cities, roads, landfills, industries... - accounts for 2.56% of the country's surface area. "It is not only the space occupied that matters, but also its effects on the landscape," she points out. As the professor points out, it seems clear that energy is now going to take up more space, similar to "when agricultural fields had to be cultivated to feed oxen as a workforce". "This is the new landscape of the energy transition", Jiménez stresses, and she considers it necessary to organise the territory in order to reduce its impact.

In empty Spain

Although many of the flat lands occupied by photovoltaic plants are considered marginal and of little value, certain wastelands or unirrigated fields may be of great importance for some endangered birds, such as bustards, little bustards, geese... However, as the consultant García de la Morena points out, the impact is not only environmental, as agricultural land is being rented at a much higher price than that paid in agriculture, in empty Spain. "There is a lot of pressure to find land, this is like Westerns, it's first come, first served," he stresses.

On the part of the promoters of these solar plants, the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (Unef), which brings together 400 companies in the sector, says that although there are places where these facilities should not be built, Spain has plenty of land to continue growing. "There is a lot of abandoned agricultural land, there is no competition; what we are doing is giving farmers an income that in many cases means multiplying their income by 10 times", says José Donoso, director of Unef. According to this organisation, the current agricultural surface area represents 46.2% of the country as a whole and a very small part of this space would be enough to meet the 2030 objectives of the PNIEC. Specifically, it estimates that all the photovoltaic could be built on 0.25% of the land currently dedicated to crops and pastures, or on 0.35% of the area dedicated to crops.

As Pedro Barato, president of the agricultural union Asaja, explains, agricultural land for photovoltaic is currently being rented for 1,200 euros per month, and in some areas this can go up to 2,000 euros, while rents for rainfed crops are barely 200-300 euros and for more productive fields 700-900 euros. "Here everyone counts the fair as they go, in agricultural areas of very low profitability this allows the owner to opt for a safer return, especially in the case of older people and without offspring, but on the other side there are young people who want to take land and can not pay what they pay photovoltaics", he stresses, while calling for a reflection not to occupy the most productive land.

Once again, the way in which these projects are distributed throughout the territory is key. In the town council of Escatrón (Zaragoza) they do not consider their nine photovoltaic plants, which occupy 1,400 hectares, to be a problem. However, in Alcalá de Guadaíra (Seville), where four enormous plants are already in operation and another four are being tested, totalling 656 MW of power, a modification of its general plan is being processed to regulate the implementation of more photovoltaic installations and to set limits in the areas closest to the town centre where they cannot be authorised. As the city council says, "there are a lot of photovoltaic applications, a lot of them".

Behind all this is the photovoltaic development model. "Whatever is done in renewables is fine with us, but we like a small plant much better than a large one. The large plant model should have some limitations", says Fernando Ferrando, president of the Renewables Foundation, who maintains that "a 200 MW plant cannot be built by a municipality or a small company, it is always built by the same people". "Everything is possible, but with a little rationality. If I do everything economically, at a reasonable price, everything will be big. But everything big has many disadvantages. You have to have self-consumption, distributed generation, small plants... and some large ones, but for us they are the last ones", he adds.

The director of Unef, who believes that size is just one of the advantages that Spain should take advantage of, thinks very differently. "Our technology is modular, you can have a 1.5 kW installation in your house or you can build a plant as big as you want. But obviously you are going to get better prices per size," says Donoso. "Nowadays everyone has access to photovoltaics, it is a simple technology. Photovoltaics in France, Portugal or Germany are the same as in Spain. Where is there a competitive advantage? In the hours of sunshine and in the space to be able to build plants at a lower price. In Europe, only part of Portugal, southern Italy, Sicily and a little bit of southern France have a solar resource equivalent to ours, but nobody else has as much land. And this allows us to have a cheaper electricity price than any other country around us. There are already companies that are starting to come to Spain.

Tensions with wind farms

Although the newest phenomenon with renewables in Spain is the mega photovoltaic parks, the drive for energy transition to combat climate change is also causing tensions in the north of the country with other giants: wind farms. In recent months, initiatives in defence of the landscape and biodiversity have been promoted in Galicia, Cantabria, Asturias, the whole of the Cantabrian Mountains and Burgos. "None of these initiatives deny the need for a transition to renewables, but in general focus on demanding planning and zoning to avoid irreparable damage," says Ernesto Díaz of the Platform for the Defence of the Cantabrian Mountains. For Javier Andaluz, head of climate change at Ecologistas en Acción, "tackling the climate emergency requires the development of relatively large renewable energy facilities". In his opinion, it would even be necessary to increase the renewable targets of the PNIEC, but with "clear and coherent planning". "The impact of renewables depends on their location," he stresses. "We have to face two emergencies: the climate emergency and the biodiversity emergency.