Portugal’s leading bird conservation organisation has urged authorities to reject a proposed wind farm in the northeast Algarve, warning it would cause serious and irreversible environmental damage.
The Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA) says the revised wind-energy component of the Alcoutim photovoltaic plant — known as Solara4 — fails to address the major environmental concerns raised during the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process and should be “definitively scrapped”.
In a statement released on Tuesday, SPEA said the reformulated project “does not resolve the serious environmental impacts already identified” and continues to pose high risks to endangered species, as well as “significant cumulative impacts on ecosystems and people who live in the area”.
The revised proposal is currently under public consultation until February 4, after the original plan received a negative opinion from the official Evaluation Committee (Comissão de Avaliação, or CA).
According to SPEA, even the project’s own promoters acknowledge that the committee classified the impacts as “very significant and non-mitigable”, admitting there is “no technical margin for an effective redesign.”
“When a project is planned for a location that is clearly unsuitable, no mitigation or compensation measures can fix it,” said SPEA executive director Pedro Neto, cited in the statement.
The organisation is particularly critical of the promoter’s approach to the impact the project would have on local residents. Villages such as Malfrades and Monte das Preguiças are located less than 800 metres from the planned turbines, yet the main mitigation measure proposed is simply to inform residents that they will be exposed to “uncomfortable and potentially far-reaching noise levels.”
For SPEA, this approach “normalises exposure to negative impacts instead of preventing them”.
SPEA also warns the project would affect a key area for endangered bird species, putting at risk an important migratory corridor used by soaring birds such as eagles, storks and vultures.
The organisation says it could also jeopardise the conservation of large eagles in Portugal, including the country’s main breeding population of Bonelli’s eagle.
“This is not an isolated project, it is another blow to an ecologically sensitive region,” Pedro Neto said, stressing that the northeast Algarve is “one of the last strongholds for species at risk of extinction”.
The Solara4 project includes plans for 25 wind turbines, each with a nominal capacity of 6.6 MW, totalling 165 MW.
SPEA has joined other environmental groups that have already raised serious concerns about the wind farm.
Last week, a civic movement defending the environment and local ecosystems warned about the risks posed by mega wind-energy projects planned for the municipalities of Tavira and Alcoutim, citing threats to biodiversity, public health and the local economy.
In a statement, the Platform for Sustainability and Biodiversity of the Algarve and Alentejo said wind projects involving turbines over 200 metres tall would endanger a critical biodiversity area and nearby communities. According to the group, two large hybrid solar-wind projects planned for the northeast Algarve –the Solara4 project in Alcoutim and a Galp project in Tavira – could lead to the installation of 48 turbines across the region.
