“The municipality decided to issue an unfavourable opinion in the context of a public consultation regarding the installation of the Sophia Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant project,” the Penamacor City Council, in the district of Castelo Branco, announced.

The municipal executive, led by the socialist José de Oliveira, clarified in a press release sent to Lusa news agency that the position taken “took into account numerous meetings and investigations carried out, namely with the company promoting” the project, as well as the presidents of the parish councils covered by the project.

In addition to the local authorities of Penamacor, the meetings also included representatives from neighbouring municipalities, popular movements, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public institutions such as the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology, and the Intermunicipal Community (CIM) of Beira Baixa.

“The municipal executive reaffirms its commitment to the energy transition, investing in green energy and a sustainable future, provided that this is achieved in a balanced way, respecting territorial planning, the environment, biodiversity, and the quality of life of local populations and visitors,” they argued.

A commitment that they stated is “embodied in the recent installation of the Cabeço Vermelho Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant in the municipality's territory,” “in the ongoing installation of the hybridization of the Senhora da Póvoa Power Plant, and in the existence of three other projects for the installation of power plants of this type” in Penamacor.

“Therefore, the Sophia solar park project cannot be analysed per se without considering the various cumulative impacts of another potential installation in the territory,” the executive argued.

Biodiversity

In their view, the project also jeopardizes part of the existing biodiversity in a municipality with an enviable environmental heritage and natural landscape, given the scale of the Sophia solar project.

"The installation of a plant of this size will inevitably lead to the artificialization and degradation of the landscape, compromising the image of a territory that holds the seal of the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism 'Lands of the Lynx' and encompasses part of the Serra da Malcata Natural Reserve," the municipality argued.

Considering the landscape and environment, coupled with "the importance of tourism in the region's economic dynamics, it is understood that the installation could act as an inhibiting factor for actions that might unfold in the park's intervention area."

“Therefore, we reiterate that, without neglecting the importance of the energy transition, green energy, and a sustainable future, the municipality reaffirms that this must be carried out in a balanced way, reinforcing its commitment to territorial planning, the environment, biodiversity, and the quality of life of local populations and visitors, and understands that it is defending, in this way, the identity of the landscape heritage of the region in which it is located,” the executive emphasised.

This Sophia Photovoltaic Solar Power Plant project has been the target of protests from the population of Penamacor and neighbouring municipalities, as well as mayors, and has already led the PAN party to request its suspension and the PS party to question the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, this week.

In the question addressed to the minister, 11 members of parliament from the PS parliamentary group, including the MP elected for the Castelo Branco constituency, Nuno Fazenda, question whether the Government “is aware of the investments in question and their impacts” and whether it “held any meetings with local authorities and other representative entities of the region” and, if so, “what those meetings were and what conclusions were reached”.