The Government denies definitively the 21-hectare photovoltaic park in Sencelles

SencellesThe Ministry of Housing, Territory and Mobility has decided to issue an unfavorable environmental impact statement for the PFV Sencelles Hive photovoltaic plant project. The resolution, signed by the Director General of Urban Harmonization and Environmental Assessment, definitively halts the installation of a large solar complex that intended to occupy, next to the Palma-Sineu road, twenty-one hectares of general rustic forest land in the municipality of Sencelles.

The administrative decision supports the arguments defended by the public, the associative fabric and the Sencelles City Council, as well as various technical bodies of the Council of Mallorca and the regional executive itself. The installation promoted by the company Sun Hive SL projected the deployment of 33,600 bifacial solar panels, its own step-up substation and an evacuation line of more than sixteen kilometers to Inca. The execution budget exceeded 16 million euros.

The mayor of Sencelles, Joan Carles Verd, has assessed the resolution by highlighting the municipality's constant position regarding this type of initiative and has stated that "the Sencelles City Council always issues reports against them, since we believe that as long as there is no island or regional regulation linked to an energy master plan that determines what the island's needs are with this type of installation and what areas they should be installed in, there is no room to allow plants of this magnitude".

Report

The environmental report highlights the severe ecological and landscape impact that the construction would have caused in a consolidated forested area. The affected land hosts habitats of community interest such as Mediterranean pine forests, holm oak groves, and low scrubland, in addition to protected or threatened faunal species such as the red kite, the booted eagle, or the long-eared owl. According to the official resolution, the removal of nearly two thousand pine trees and hundreds of shrubs to install solar panels is incompatible with the protection of biodiversity and the forest's function as a carbon sink.

Added to the loss of plant mass are the deficiencies detected in the project's processing. The technicians have pointed out the lack of objective justification for locating an infrastructure of these dimensions on common rustic forest land, as well as non-compliance in the evaluation of alternatives and in the Sectoral Energy Master Plan of the Balearic Islands. Furthermore, the electrical connection line approached the archaeological site of sa Cova de Son Ganyada and lacked an adequate technical definition regarding its crossing with the train tracks.

With this unfavorable Environmental Impact Statement, the Government closes the door on a project that had generated broad social and institutional rejection. The Sencelles Plenary had unanimously opposed the solar panels at ses Planes, defending a model of renewable energy based on the protection of the territory, the installation of pergolas in spaces already transformed such as public parking lots, and self-consumption.