Fireplace Heat Exchanger Grate

PSOE refuses to process the parks of their own farm contest

Environment collects the opinion of legal service: they have no legal cover / has been a recurring criticism of the opposition to the intentions of the Executive

"We need to process and resolve first assessment the [new] plan [Cantabria energy] and only later can be processed that of the corresponding projects [wind farm]. Otherwise it could circumvent the purpose of the Strategic Assessment, which aims to provide an overview and overall, compared to evaluations of projects, focusing on the isolated analysis of the environmental impact of a particular wind farm. "

With those words the Legal Service of the Government of Cantabria closes the door to the admission of new wind projects, for now. Bound by that opinion, the General Directorate of Environment has filed applications for wind farms already raised by some winners of the competition mounted from the Government of PRC-PSOE Cantabria.

The problem, though deeply important legal, seems clear: the current Energy Plan Cantabria (Plenercan) does not support the amount of megawatt wind turbines that the government has auctioned by public tender. The Plenercan gives legal cover for 300 MW which is surpassed by the 1,400 wind contest.
Environmentalists, conservationists, people of the Culture, Arts, Science and civic life in general of Cantabria, the regional PP, the National Energy Commission, the Ombudsman and a member of the Executive to Cantabria. Everyone had warned him of organizing illegal a competition without passing before a wind energy plan.

Legal Service states that it should evaluate the overall impacts of these 1,400 MW in the new plan and then and only then adopt environmental claims separately from each park and not the reverse, which is what would attempted with the current presentation of projects before approving a new energy plan. That nuance

already been picked, as reported by THE WORLD in January, the Ombudsman, who expressed surprise at the way that it had the Government of Cantabria, "it seems that the chosen order is the reverse indicating logic. Instead of deciding first the suitable areas to place wind turbines and the maximum power to install them, subjecting those decisions to the controls falling within the Strategic Assessment (including consultation and public information) and then call to order a public tender offer in accordance with planning, the Government of Cantabria has regulated and organized the first public tender for allocation of wind power to authorize then rated power companies to install wind farms. "

The Ombudsman agreed with the PP, one year before, in January 2010, described the procedure as "legal fraud." The popular, however, have always gone beyond (since the controversy erupted in the summer of 2009), stating that this rush came because the contest itself was an "outrage" that want to make "four of the Government with four friends."

In any case, the actions of the Ministry of Environment, in the hands of socialist Francisco Martín, through its general director Javier García-Oliva, had two levels: on one hand the administrative, picking up, if I wanted to pinch fingers legally speaking, the legal opinion of its legal services.

Furthermore, the politician, in a kind of forward flight in the form of statement that reached the editors of the media yesterday afternoon. In it, in addition to affirming that government lawyers provide something that the government "knew" Garcia-Oliva goes further: "What has made the Ministry of Environment supported by the report of the legal services of the Government, is transferred to developers who had been advanced [sic] to submit projects of wind farms in areas currently not covered by the existing Plenercan, and should expect to finalize the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the new Plenercan to cancel the corresponding statement Environmental impact of each park. "

The truth is that the executive did not notice about it when, two weeks ago, on April 5, recognized that the bidders had submitted projects for almost 50% (700 MW, more or less) of the MW auctioned.

Then there's a certain amount of contradiction: The PRC-PSOE government has repeatedly assured the Cantabrians the environmental safeguards with the statements of each park, now admits that it is necessary to have a comprehensive assessment within a plan.

The executive handles and a new energy plan 2011-2020 but its passage may not resolve a troubling issue for bidders: Strategic Environmental Assessment need not admit, environmentally the 1,400 MW have been dealt. And companies may ask why Cantabria responsibilities.