Source: EP/IBERDROLA
A total of 43 developers have submitted 248 applications for wind farms in Extremadura in accordance with the new decree of the Junta de Extremadura, which entered into force last October and leaves open the possibility of submitting new applications since there is no deadline for it.
The 248 applications submitted to date are concentrated in 45 different sites and the total power requested is 6,698 megawatts (MW), but due to the coincidence of several projects in the same location the maximum power that could be authorized is 3,523 MW.
However, this does not mean that this maximum of 3,523 megawatts will be authorized, since the Board considers it "reasonable" to authorize "20 percent" of this amount, which would mean about 700 MW, as explained by the Minister of Industry, Energy and Environment, José Luis Navarro, at a press conference.
The highest concentration of applications for these wind projects occurs in the south of the province of Badajoz, although those submitted for sites in the north of the province of Cáceres and the areas of La Siberia, Las Villuercas and Los Ibores also stand out.
DOE ADS
Navarro has reported on Tuesday the applications for wind farms under the new decree to date and has announced that this Wednesday, December 22, the Official Gazette of Extremadura (DOE) will publish 42 announcements regarding sites for which wind projects have been submitted.
The ads that the DOE will publish will not be 45, a figure of the total of different locations, because the promoters of three of these locations "have not completed the necessary documentation", so that, once they have it complete, the respective ads will be published.
The deadline for those interested in submitting new applications in competition with those already submitted for these 45 sites will be one month, which will end on January 22, 2011.
In this month of term, Navarro added, each of the promoters will have to specify their actions for the socioeconomic development of the area in which the parks are implemented, which may be with the creation of a minimum of three jobs per megawatt or agreeing with the municipalities affected by the project the contribution of at least 8 percent of the park's turnover during a minimum of 25 years.
Subsequently, there will be a period of six months, which will end on July 22, 2011, for the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Environment to decide which projects to give the "prior authorization" that "only" will be granted to those parks whose "viability has been valued as positive" from the environmental, urban, existence of mining concessions in the same area and existence of cultural heritage to protect in that same space.
In the event that for the same site there are several viable parks, the ten criteria that the decree contemplates to decide which ones are authorized will be applied.
Thus, as of July 2011, the projects, which will no longer compete with another for the same site, will have to develop the ordinary process of any energy installation, administrative authorization or environmental impact assessment, to obtain the final authorization.
PENDING THE NEW REGULATION
On the other hand, the Minister of Industry has indicated that at this time he is "pending" that the Ministry of Industry approves the new regulation that sets the remuneration of wind farms that come into operation from 2013 onwards, a regulation that Navarro hopes "can be a reality in the first months of 2011".
This regulation, he added, will affect the 26 wind farms already authorized by the Board with a total capacity of 560 MW, as well as those that finally obtain the definitive authorization of the 248 that to date have been requested.
Navarro has indicated that the forecast of wind energy in Spain for the year 2020 contemplates "35,000 MW of wind power" operating throughout the country with "wind energy on land", so, taking into account that today 20,000 MW operate throughout Spain, "there is a route of 15,000 MW between 2013 and 2020".
The Extremaduran Minister of Industry has therefore indicated that "there is excess capacity" for the 560 MW of the 26 wind farms already authorized in Extremadura with the previous decree as for those that are authorized with the new decree.
WILL NOT BE BEFORE 2015
In addition, he has indicated that "it can be assumed" that the parks already authorized will come into operation "from 2013" while the new projects "do not seem reasonable" that they could do so "before 2015". However, he stressed the importance of the procedures that are being carried out at the moment to lay the foundations so that "in a considerably long period of time, from 2015" there may be more wind farms in the region.
Navarro has indicated that it is "impossible" to know today how many wind farms are going to be built because this depends on the analysis carried out by the developer on the profitability of the investment once that remuneration that must be set by the Ministry of Industry is known.
"Today without that incentive no one is going to build; and until the incentive is known and the promoters make their business plans, it will not be possible to build," said the Extremaduran counselor.
In this sense, he pointed out that he intends that "in a few years the incentive will no longer be necessary" because "Spanish companies, which are technologically leading around the world, make mills that are increasingly large, more efficient, that work with less wind speed and that are cheaper" with which "every year that passes the investment is lower and the production is higher", added.
In addition, the counselor stressed that, on the other hand, the normal price of electricity every year is rising, so "there will come a time when wind farms do not need an incentive." "That is the great objective of renewable energies," he remarked.
Therefore, he explained that "then the quotas of the Government of Spain will no longer count" and "maybe" the 35,000 MW planned for 2020 will be exceeded. "If in 2018 technology allows to build and be viable without incentives, then that amount can be exceeded," Navarro concluded. (EUROPA PRESS)
Authors: admin
