Date Published: 23/04/2021
ARCHIVED - Revised plans presented for massive solar power plant in Lorca
ARCHIVED ARTICLE Little bustards in Zarcilla de Ramos contribute to the need for modification while tortoises delay the mega-plant proposed in Puerto Lumbreras
The Chinese-owned company X-Elio remains firmly committed to expanding its network of solar power plants in the Region of Murcia, having recently presented the new installation in the municipality of Mazarrón, and has now presented its modified design for a proposed mega-plant in the Lorca rural district of Zarcilla de Ramos.
This project was first mooted a decade ago but faced opposition from local residents, from ecologists concerned about the population of little bustards in the area and from the Town Halls of Totana, Aledo and Alhama de Murcia, all of whom were worried about the high-tension cables which would run through their respective municipalities.
Taking all of these factors into account, X-Elio has now modified and downsized its plans to 482 hectares, 386 megawatts and a mere 671,684 solar panels, at an investment cost of 196 million euros. The cables will no longer affect Aledo, according to Diego José Mateos, the Mayor of Lorca, and more than 2 kilometres of cables will now be laid under the ground rather than being supported by pylons.
In the meantime, similar problems are being faced by the promoters of a venture to create the second largest solar power plant in Europe in Puerto Lumbreras. This 700-hectare project would require an investment of 280 million euros and would produce 590 megawatts of power, but it has already been moved from the Lorca district of Almendricos due to disagreements with local landowners and now it faces opposition from naturalists due to the effect it would have on the local wild tortoise population.
In addition, 18.5 kilometres of high-tension cables would be needed across the Lorca countryside, according to the plans promoted by Desarrollos Fotovoltaicos Carril 400 (a subsidiary of the Austrian RPGlobal group.
But it is the naturalists of ANSE who are most concerned about the project, alleging that it would affect the hunting grounds of various birds of prey as well as the habitat of a tortoise poulation, and the Department of the Environment in the regional government of Murcia is demanding a guarantee that a “tortoise corridor” containing native plant species will be preserved: this, they say, will also be of benefit to various bird species.