Wind farm gets go-ahead to chop down 1,800 cork oaks
EDP Renováveis had requested authorisation to proceed with the felling of 1,821 cork oaks in an area of 32.22 hectares of settlement in the municipalities of Sines and Santiago do Cacém.
Portugal’s minister of the environment has declared the “indispensable public utility” of the Morgavel Wind Farm, which EDP Renováveis wants to build in Sines, authorising the felling of 1,821 cork oaks, according to an order published on Tuesday in Diário da República.
The order signed by the minister for the environment and climate action, Duarte Cordeiro, declared “the essential public utility of the Morgavel Wind Farm (PEM) and the 400 kV power line connection to the Sines substation”, considering that the necessary conditions are met, such as the environmental compliance of the project, the authorisations for the felling/cutting of cork oaks by the owners and that the Moncorvo Wind Farm, owned by EDP Renováveis, presented a project for compensatory measures for afforestation of mixed stands of cork oaks and strawberry trees in an area of 50.07 hectares.
The company had requested authorisation to proceed with the felling of 1,821 cork oaks in an area of 32.22 hectares of settlement in the municipalities of Sines and Santiago do Cacém.
This order from the ministry of the environment authorises the felling of those trees, conditioning it “to the approval and implementation of the compensation project and respective management plan”, as well as to “compliance with any constraints presented by the licensing authority of this work and all other applicable requirements”.
The government’s decision also took into account the “relevant public, economic and social interest of the project, in addition to the obligations inherent in the contract signed between the applicant and the Portuguese government, which is contractually obliged to promote the implementation of a Wind Farm that contributes to the fulfilment by the Portuguese state of the Kyoto objectives and the National Energy Plan”.
The Environmental Impact Assessment was also taken into account, which was decided in accordance with the location of the project after considering the alternatives, as well as the declaration of the Municipality of Sines expressing the municipality’s interest in the installation of that wind power plant.
In February, the Competition Authority (AdC) authorised EDP Renováveis to buy Moncorvo wind farm, which is currently designing and implementing the Morgavel wind farm in the municipality of Sines.
Morgavel holds a grid interconnection right for guaranteed remuneration wind generation capacity to be installed of 50 megawatts (MW), as well as a right to install an additional 10 MW of equipment under the terms of a contract signed with the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology in May 2009.
