Ribera: “It would be irresponsible not to develop the offshore wind power sector”

Minister of Energy Transition Teresa Riberawas abundant this Friday morning in Ferrol, where the new edition of the Galician Offshore International Hub was officially opened, in the desire for dialogue with the fishing industry and other sectors involved in the development of offshore wind energy in Spain, after the agreement, last Tuesday, on the Maritime Space Management Plans. He reminded that they represent a map of the areas where this activity is expected, and pointed out that there is still a long way to go before the realization of the first parks. However, he responded to the criticism of the Galician brotherhoods who requested his resignation. “It is normal for people who have lived without neighbors in this area to feel worried, but it is more difficult to understand that new neighbors cannot appear. Namely, we gave the Maritime Space Management Plans almost two years late because we tried to reach maximum consensus. We integrated all the doubts and all the data that the Spanish Institute of Oceanography gave us from the fishing banks, we included the Xunta statements, we included some of the fraternities. If this sector cannot develop, it would be the irresponsibility of the institutions“, he asserted.

“Today, fishermen know that wind energy cannot be developed offshore outside these polygons, which is a very important guarantee, there are a number of activities related to the primary sector as important as those related to aquaculture that have a special reserve in the areas closest to the coast,” he added, launching the following message: “They also know that there is a will to by continuing to work so that the development of events that could come must be agreed upon as much as possible from the point of view of coherence, coexistence and compensation”.

After the approval of maps zoning places for industrial development, From now on, work will be done on regulation, establishment of criteria for auctions and demarcation of space. The government, it announces, will work on assessing “how the benefits for local communities are reflected.” There are certain fishing tools that can perfectly coexist with a more or less dense area with mills, there can be different anchorages and participation in these benefits must also be guaranteed. All that must be reflected”.

Regarding the possible effects of the parks on fisheries, the Minister of Energy Transition stated that “It has been established that no negative effect can be proven. On the contrary, many times, due to the type of anchorage and the distance between the wind turbines, there is a regeneration of the species”.

He also hinted that the first places to be built would be smaller.. “It is very important that the regulation is completed and that the first competitions are held in spaces that have a tolerable measure, that we can understand how it develops and that they have maximum consensus from the surrounding communities,” he asserted. .