The consequences of climate change force governments to legislate to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere in order to mitigate its effects. At the same time, environmental groups monitor that these new laws do not affect the environment and the surroundings.
The race to decarbonize the planet has also reached the Canary Islands, which since December 2022 has a Climate Change Law. This initiative seeks that in 2040 90% of the energy is renewable. Or what means that the islands must have more solar panels and more wind turbines to be more sustainable.
Within the framework of this race to survive, the Government of the Canary Islands has presented a Canary Islands Energy Transition Plan (PTECAN 2030). The problem exposed by Ecologistas en Acción arises when the eagerness to grow in renewables intersects with an island like Lanzarote, with a limited, protected territory where the beauty of the landscape is exploited for tourism purposes.
The competences for the regional government
Due to the claims of PTECAN 2030, Ecologistas en Acción has presented allegations. The objective of the environmental group is that the increase in renewables does not affect the landscape value of the island, respect its particularities, maintain tourist competitiveness and achieve a European decarbonization regulation adapted to the particularities of limited spaces such as Lanzarote or La Graciosa.
The environmental group highlights that this plan and the Climate Action Strategy derived from the Canary Islands Climate Change Law approves that the authorizations for wind and photovoltaic installations are granted from the General Directorate of Energy of the Government of the Canary Islands for General Interest. This has taken away from the Cabildo of Lanzarote the competence to authorize wind and photovoltaic farms.
Ecologistas en Acción emphasizes that the Declaration of General Interest of these projects in Lanzarote foresees occupying 89% of its surface with wind areas. In this sense, Tías, Tinajo, Haría or Teguise, four of the seven municipalities of Lanzarote, would be "seriously affected by the noise and the collateral effects of the installation of wind turbines."
A finite territory
Among its allegations, it demands that the General Directorate of Energy of the regional Executive negotiate with Europe a netzero objective to decarbonize the Canary Islands as an Ultra Peripheral Region but taking into account the scarcity of the territory and "that the regulations on energy transition prepared for the continent are not applied."
The tourism sector, the main economic engine of the island, also consumes a third of Lanzarote's energy. As a fact, the Government of the Canary Islands reveals that 38.87% of the energy consumed on the island of Lanzarote is destined for domestic use, 30.47% for hotel use and 14.2% for the commerce and services sector. This is stated in the Energy Yearbook of the Canary Islands dating from 2018.
The importance of the landscape
The environmental defense group urges the authorities to "maintain the sources of wealth of the island economy, understanding that 90% of the island economy revolves around the tourism sector." At the same time, it places special emphasis on preserving the architectural order promoted by César Manrique: white buildings, two stories high.
For this reason, it requests the General Directorate "a Special Territorial Energy Plan specific to Lanzarote, where the health and well-being of its population is prioritized as a general interest, the conservation of the landscape as a source of wealth and engine of the tourism industry".
In the document presented to the Government of the Canary Islands, Ecologistas en Acción de Lanzarote requests that the visual impact be protected up to ten kilometers for any renewable energy installation in tourist locations. In particular for the spaces of Costa Teguise, Puerto del Carmen, Puerto Calero, Playa Blanca, Hotel Complex of La Santa Sport.
For this reason, it asks the General Directorate of Energy to rectify the environmental impact assessment scale on cultural heritage and include the visual impact where the impact would become critical if it were taken into account, according to its criteria. In this line, it alludes that the impact of wind turbines in the sea in the Costa Teguise area would also be critical.
It also values the importance of preserving ecosystems and landscapes such as Timanfaya National Park, the Chinijo Archipelago Marine Reserve, the settlements of Yaiza, Teguise, Haría or Arrecife.
In this sense, it emphasizes that the Environmental Impact Study must analyze the real and potential impacts on the tourism and audiovisual sector of the Canary Islands and how the number of wind turbines that they intend to house in Lanzarote will affect. The Canarian Executive intends to reach a wind power of 244 megawatts in the year 2030.
Ecologistas en Acción warns that the land of Lanzarote, with this PTECAN, "would become of companies in the energy sector".
What it considers "a serious danger for good coexistence and for the following generations." That is why it asks the Government of the Canary Islands to return the power to grant renewable licenses to the councils and not be declared of general interest.
Renewable energies and private companies
At the same time, it insists that the facilities must be of public ownership or of mixed energy communities formed by companies and citizens. "It responds and, on occasions, yields to the interests of foreign multinationals with purely economic purposes," denounces Ecologistas en Acción.
For this reason, it also emphasizes that the implementation of renewables as it is proposed supposes "the loss of wild soil and the affection to all sentient beings." In addition to "a damage to agricultural and livestock land."
Ecologistas en Acción concludes that the environmental impact study of the PTECAN should be reviewed because it would mean "an irreversible negative impact."
