The Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF), which represents the photovoltaic solar energy sector, defends the installation of solar panels in rural areas without entering into conflict with agricultural uses, in accordance with existing environmental regulations.
The general director of UNEF, José Donoso, assures that “there is no contradiction” between agricultural uses and photovoltaics, and gives as an example the many installations in which sheep enter to eat grass, an ecological way of maintaining the territory.
According to a recent study by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), photovoltaic parks in Spain occupy an area equivalent to 0.2% of the useful agricultural land (about 50,000 hectares), after growing by 166% in the last eight years. Donoso stresses that all photovoltaic panel projects need to present an environmental impact study that must be approved by their autonomous community and, if they exceed 50 megawatts, they must also do so before the central government.
The environmental assessment law establishes a complex process for which the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (Miteco) has prepared an 80-page guide.
In response to criticism from organizations in other areas against solar panels in the countryside, Donoso assures that the land in which they are planted “does not suffer any type of aggression and is ideal for cultivation after, for example, 30 years of rest.”
He cites studies that show that the shade provided by the panels reduces the temperature of the land and serves as a refuge for local fauna; and denies that the panels accumulate heat or are prone to fires, since they only use light to generate electricity.
According to UNEF, a dryland farmer in Spain who rents land for photovoltaic energy can earn between 100 and 400 euros per hectare per year, with an average rental value of around 1,500 euros per year.
Donoso says that the taxes paid for this activity are “the only opportunity” for income in many towns in rural Spain, where different economic interests compete for the use of land.
“We recommend that companies do not expropriate, but reach agreements,” even if they have to make the plant smaller, explains the representative of UNEF, an organization that has a “seal of excellence in sustainability.”
There are currently 45 plants certified with this seal, 12 in operation (775.9 megawatts) and 33 in development (3,127.3 MW), according to the association.
The selected projects must meet a series of requirements, both from the point of view of environmental integration of the landscape and the circular economy, collaboration with local authorities and actors, and the socioeconomic impact on the territory.
For Donoso, “what is really going to change the landscape is climate change” and, when someone opposes the installation of photovoltaic plants, they are perpetuating fossil fuels.
“This does not mean that everything is valid. We agree that there should be a regulation such as that of environmental impact for everyone and that the studies are done well,” says the general director.
He asks the administrations for support in decarbonisation, while calling for the creation of conditions to attract industry to the areas where photovoltaic energy is installed.
Specifically, he calls on those regions that have covered their energy needs with renewables and that are producing energy for other areas to make electricity cheaper as an incentive for industry.
