The GOB files objections against the Pollença battery plant for “improper use” of rural land

PalmThe GOB Mallorca (Balearic Ornithological Group of Mallorca) has filed objections against the proposed battery plant in Pollença, promoted by the company Atlantica, arguing that it involves an "inappropriate use" of rural land and poses "serious environmental risks." According to a statement released by the group, the objections have been registered with the Directorate General for Circular Economy, Energy Transition, and Climate Change. The project, which is being processed as a strategic industrial project, includes an energy storage plant with an installed capacity of 10 megawatts (MW) and a storage capacity of 40 megawatt-hours (MWh).

The GOB (Balearic Ornithological Group) maintains that the initiative "does not have the nature or public interest that would justify preferential treatment," since—they claim—it is "a private and speculative activity, without a productive process or creation of stable employment." The organization points out that the project is located on common rural land, intended exclusively for agricultural, livestock, or forestry uses, and that it cannot be authorized without a declaration of general interest and a territorial report from the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca), procedures that, according to the GOB, the developer has not requested. Environmentalists also argue that the plant cannot be included under the Law on Strategic Industrial Projects, since "it does not meet the conditions" and is not a renewable energy generation facility, the only type of industrial activity that can be located on rural land.

For the GOB (Balearic Ornithological Group), authorizing infrastructure like this "would open the door to the dispersed industrialization of rural land," which would add to the "lack of control" in the installation of photovoltaic plants. "It would mean the irreversible loss of productive agricultural land," they warn.

The organization also points out that the plot is partially located within a Flood Risk Prevention Area and a short distance from a river, considering the measures planned to prevent aquifer contamination in case of an accident insufficient. Furthermore, it warns that the use of lithium batteries carries risks of explosion and the emission of toxic gases, and that no emergency plan appropriate to the rural context or incident simulations have been presented.

Finally, the GOB emphasizes that the area has high ecological value, with more than 140 documented species, and that the project exemplifies "a speculative drift in the name of the energy transition." "The energy transition cannot serve as an excuse to industrialize rural land," they state. "What is needed is planning that prioritizes self-consumption, distributed generation, and the use of already transformed land, not the colonization of agricultural territory."