The President of the Lanzarote Island Council, Oswaldo Betancort, appeared this Tuesday in the island plenary session following the request of the Lanzarote PSOE for him to publicly show his position regarding the installation of renewable energy plants. In it, he addressed the current situation of the Magec I and Tías I photovoltaic plants.
"Since we assumed the responsibility of governing the Lanzarote Island Council, more than a year and a half ago, we have been extremely and clearly clear regarding our position on the introduction of sustainable energy, whether photovoltaic or wind, on the islands of Lanzarote and La Graciosa," said Betancort, who stressed that "Lanzarote has a unique environmental and landscape awareness, different from the rest of the islands in the archipelago. Historically, our appreciation for our landscape and our natural environment has been a special, unique and singular sign of identity."
In relation to the Magec I project, Betancort informed the plenary that the file has expired since January 1 of this year due to the expiration of the term. "This Island Council firmly opposed granting the Public and Social Interest (IPS) both in 2021 and in 2023. In addition, a Biodiversity report questioned the project, requesting additional information from the promoter, which was not delivered, which led to the expiration of the file," he explained.
Regarding the Tías I project, the president pointed out that there are no significant developments beyond the usual administrative procedures. "The public information process has been completed, in which allegations were collected, while the recent publication in the BOE is a procedure of the promoter."
During his speech, the president was forceful in stating that "from the moment we became aware that the Government of the Canary Islands had processed a 6bis declaration for the implementation of photovoltaic panels, we were radically against it because, first and foremost, the interests of Lanzarote and La Graciosa are at stake."
"This Island Council has strongly defended before the Regional Executive that we will be the institutions of Lanzarote that define, through our planning instruments, what surface area of our territory we want to allocate to the implementation of sustainable energies, as it is necessary to consider the landscape impact that this entails. It will be Lanzarote who decides on which land renewable energies will be implemented in our territory," Betancort stated emphatically.
Lanzarote, the first island in the Canary Islands in energy planning
The president also highlighted "Lanzarote's leadership in energy planning in the Canary Islands, with the launch of an island ordinance for the homogenization of rural land for the penetration of sustainable energy, which is very advanced." "This ordinance will soon be taken to the Environmental Body, and from there to public exhibition so that citizens can allege. So that, as soon as possible, we can have it definitively approved," he said.
"Thanks to this island regulation, a pioneer in the Canary Islands, the penetration of renewable energies on the island will be ordered, determining on which land yes and on which not, restricting the implementation of infrastructures only on residual rural land without environmental protection," concluded Oswaldo Betancort.
