- The motion tabled by the Chairman was adopted in plenary. To the company that promotes the project, the City Council has asked Cañaveras Solar to ensure that the project does not take up agricultural land classified as of high strategic value and that it establishes a distance of at least 500 meters from populated areas.
Cañaveras Solar presented a project called FV Ubalza II to the Basque Government about a week ago, which aims to build a photovoltaic power plant with 48,960 solar panels on the lands of Agurain. The project would have a capacity of 30.9 MW and would cover about 50 hectares. Well, with the motion presented by EH Bila approved in the plenary session on Tuesday, the City Council of Agurain rejects the project.
The mayor of Agurain, Raúl López de Uralde, explained that the photovoltaic power plant should have social and economic benefits for the population, for which he has asked the promoter company to make several changes.However, Cañaveras Solar has continued with the project "regardless" of these proposals: "The Municipal Government has made several requests to the company to incorporate this project into the principles we defend to undertake the deployment of renewable energy.And so far we have received a negative response. That’s why we’re opposed to these projects.”
Among the proposals made to Cañaveras Solar, López de Uralde highlights the following two: that the photovoltaic power plant does not occupy agricultural lands of high strategic value and that it is at least 500 meters from the living spaces. It also asks the company to be able to participate in the company created within the framework of the project by the public, social and economic entities of the locality.
Until the approval of the Territorial Sectoral Renewable Energy Plan, no photovoltaic power plants
Not only the company promoting the project, but the City Council of Agurain has also asked the Basque Government for responsibility. In fact, the City Council has asked the Government not to authorize the execution of the PV Ubalza II project until the approval of the Territorial Renewable Energy Sector Plan. In fact, this plan establishes that photovoltaic plants of more than ten hectares and more than five MW cannot be built on agricultural land of high strategic value.
Ubaza and Ubaza II
Ubaza II is not the only project that Cañaveras Solar has presented to the Basque Government for the construction of photovoltaic power plants in Agurain: According to the motion presented by EH Bila, in May 2023 he presented to the Government the Ubaza project, which foresees the installation of 38,000 plates in the town and which would have a power of 21.3 MW.