Although there are still open disputes, the wounds left in the Catalan Pyrenees by the construction of large hydroelectric plants are – or were – practically healed. Some of the old barracks where the workers who drilled holes in the mountains to channel water lived are now warm mountain refuges. The large dams, which caused so much pain at the time due to the expropriation of land and homes, have become leisure enclaves. However, projects for the construction of renewable energy parks, especially solar, are reopening wounds in an eminently agricultural and livestock territory that feels that it has already fulfilled its energy duty to the country and that defends the land for its own use, in instead of enriching third parties.
“The solar parks planned for Pallars Jussà represent an occupation of farmland that now generates local jobs and acts as a sink for greenhouse gases. On the other hand, what jobs will these projects generate in the territory and in whose hands will the property really be? Today, the hydroelectric plants provide few jobs in the region and are in the hands of a company that is not even from the country," denounced Jaume Gelonch, farmer, rancher and representative of Salvem Lo Pallars, a platform against the proliferation of renewable energy macroparks in Pallars Jussà. Gelonch made these statements within the framework of a conference entitled Energy transition, a driver of change in the Pyrenees, organized by the Cluster of Efficient Energy of Catalonia, the Pallars Actiu association and the company Km0 Energy.
The same day also brought together Francesc Carulla, general director of BlueProm, the company that is developing a good part of the solar parks planned in the region. Carulla explained that current legislation protects cropland, especially irrigated land, and added that "our proposals make agricultural and livestock use compatible with energy generation." BlueProm has held several meetings in the territory to publicize the projects and has even opened an office in Isona i Conca Dellà, one of the municipalities where there are the most planned solar parks.
Nuri Palmada, head of the generation area of the Som Energia cooperative, proposed the creation of a compensation fund, although he warned that “compensation can be a double-edged sword because who should be compensated? Furthermore, there are many sectors that have negative impacts on the territory, such as livestock farming with manure, and they are not compensating for these impacts.” Som Energia proposes a model of smaller renewable energy parks, spread throughout the territory, and in which residents of the area are given the option to participate.
“One hundred years ago, when the large hydroelectric plants were built, there was a lot of submission. Now the situation is different and what there should be is a lot of dialogue and consensus," proposed Arcadi Castilló, president of the non-profit association Pirineus Watt, whose purpose is to value what began as scars on the landscape and which, over the years, has become hydroelectric heritage.
