Residents of Pollença protest against an investment fund's lithium battery plant

PalmAround a hundred residents of Pollença gathered this Sunday at midday to protest against the lithium battery plant that the US investment fund Atlántica Energía Sostenible wants to build in the municipality. According to the residents themselves, the facility, which is planned for rural land, would occupy a 3,000-square-meter plot of land just meters from a stream and only three meters from several houses and farms. The project includes 16 containers with lithium-ion batteries, intended to store energy and send it to the electrical grid during peak demand.

This demonstration is the second action taken by the residents, following a meeting last week at the Pollença Club to inform the public about the risks posed by the plant's construction. It's worth noting that, as the residents explained, they only became aware of the project because one of those affected stumbled across it almost by chance: "Nobody had told us anything. We found out through the newspapers on October 3rd, and from then on, we started investigating it on our own."

The criticism isn't just about the location. The neighborhood has analyzed in detail the documentation submitted by Atlántica Energía Sostenible and asserts that the project's environmental impact study itself acknowledges the risks the facility poses. "It literally says it could explode, that it could leak, and that it could contaminate streams and aquifers. They say so themselves! It's not just our opinion," they explain. They criticize the lack of transparency from the City Council, which hadn't made this project public, and demand decisive action to halt the construction of the lithium battery plant.