The Basque Government has dismissed the request from Solaria Eguzki Sorkuntza for the 'Solaria Zierbena Solar 4' plant. As published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (BOPV), the prior administrative authorization request for this project, designed for the municipality of Vitoria, has been denied and the file closed.
This decision comes weeks after the regional government made the same negative ruling on a plant by the same company intended for the Alava municipalities of Zigoitia and Zuia ('Solaria Zierbena Solar 3').
The primary reason cited for both installations not proceeding is the same: the expiration of the access and connection permit to the electricity grid, declared by Red Eléctrica de España. This expiration occurred because a favorable environmental impact assessment was not obtained within the legal 31-month timeframe.
The resolution also rejects the installation of the plant's evacuation infrastructure, which was shared with the previously dismissed project and a third one ('Solaria Zierbena Solar 2') on which the Basque Government has yet to make a decision.
its construction would represent an unprecedented transformation of the environment in the historical territory within such a short period
The Provincial Council of Álava had already issued reports questioning Solaria's three parks aimed at producing energy in this territory and transmitting it via power lines to the substation in Zierbena (Bizkaia). In its reports, the Council rejected the 'Solaria Zierbena Solar 2, 3, and 4' plants because, among other issues, they would have "unacceptable" impacts on the agricultural activity of the affected areas and because their construction would represent "an unprecedented transformation of the environment in the historical territory within such a short period."
This project had projected an investment exceeding 104 million euros, covering 373 hectares with plans to install over 310,000 photovoltaic panels.
