Solar, wind and hydroelectric energy are turning the tables on the energy mix. Every year we emit less greenhouse gases and produce more clean energy. The great challenge now is to combine the installation of renewable projects with the development of the local communities that host themas well as preserving the diversity of the area, taking care of flora, fauna and natural heritage. The challenge is not insignificant.
“It is a very complicated task,” admit Emilio Tejedor, head of the environment at Iberdrola, and Isabel Tomé, head of biodiversity and natural capital at the same company. “It is in the interest of the entire energy sector that renewables integrate well with the natural rural environment. If not, There will be social rejection and it would be more difficult to meet the decarbonisation objectives,” they point out.
If one thing is clear, it is that there is no point in running: the key is dialogue. A path in which significant steps are already being taken by the industry, such as the Debate to promote best practices between renewable energies and biodiversity that Iberdrola organised a few days ago at the Royal Site of La Granja de San Ildefonso, within the framework of its Convive Programme. The meeting was opened by the mayor of La Granja, Samuel Alonso Llorente, and the CEO of Iberdrola Renovables, Julio Castro.
During the sessions – in which other energy companies also participated – success stories were shared with the aim of replicating them and fundamental issues were discussed to ensure that the development of renewable energies has a net positive impact on biodiversity. Iberdrola has assumed this commitment as part of its Biodiversity Plan and the Live Together Programworking to create a symbiosis between renewable energy, nature, society and the economy.
“One has to look for projects that produce a real improvement for nature“We are very interested in the ecosystems we are going to interact with,” Tejedor and Tomé agree. “The challenge is huge, because we need to gain in-depth knowledge of the ecosystems we are going to interact with; what state they are in, which species are the most fragile… Nature is a very complex system to understand, but we are making rapid progress in this regard,” he continues. Renewable energy projects, due to this emphasis on understanding and protecting ecosystems, are providing “huge amounts of information to better understand how they function and how to protect them,” she points out.
After getting to know nature, you have to “do things right,” they say. Some ways to do this are: “Look for the sites that have the least impact, avoid those impacts as much as possible and carry out conservation and restoration measures that really mean an improvement. In the jargon, it is called apply the mitigation hierarchy. Serious and robust environmental impact studies must also be carried out. This is the fundamental mechanism for the company to be able to receive suggestions for improvement from both the administration and civil society and for the final project to be improved.
This is what was discussed at La Granja; how to make actions that increase knowledge about a species or produce the long-term improvement of an ecosystem.The need for collaboration between administrationsprivate companies, research centres and civil society was one of the main conclusions that were obtained,” they point out. The forum brought together experts from various entities such as the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco), Action for the Wild World (AMUS), CEOE, Forética, the Spanish Photovoltaic Union (UNEF), the Wind Business Association (AEE), S&P Global Ratings, Redeia and Ecoacsa.
«The need to standardize the processes of information exchange between agents was quickly identified. As we said, a lot of it is being produced. For it to be useful, it needs to be easily integrated. The Ministry has been working for some time on a digitalization project that will allow keep databases up to date of the Spanish Inventory of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity. It is a vital tool for improving these analysis and knowledge processes,” says Tomé.
Success stories of renewable energy implementation
The need to collaborate with research centres and universities was also detected. The universities of Salamanca, Malaga, Oviedo and Rey Juan Carlos participated in the dialogue. “Many projects are being carried out to Understanding the behavior of species in Spain (birds and bats), and it was seen that crossing university work with operational data from wind farms would provide greater knowledge. In fact, at the meeting we committed to launching collaborative projects to improve their work,” the officials celebrate.
As for successful experiences, experts highlight that “the development of photovoltaic plants that They take advantage of degraded land for their construction “This is perhaps the clearest example.” Iberdrola has developed several projects in these conditions and “it is incredible how quickly nature recovers in these environments.” According to their studies, this can be achieved in just one or two years. “Our expectation is that it will continue to grow, but photovoltaic plants are still very young.”
In turn, they distinguish two “powerful” tools to improve coexistence: applying the mitigation hierarchy and having the corporate commitment to comply with it. “Iberdrola has a goal of being positive in biodiversity by 2030, but not only for its new developments, but also for all assets in operation (more than 700 in the world) and our networks (more than 1.2 million km of overhead lines). The commitment is very challenging, but there is a firm will to fulfill it. However, be strict in minimizing the impactsin collaborating with all social agents and in seeking innovative solutions would not be possible,” they say.
What is the Convive Program?
Iberdrola’s Biodiversity Plan has a gradual implementation schedule until 2030. It seeks a net positive impact on both ecosystems and species. “We have defined the quantitative metrics that can guarantee compliance,” say Tejedor and Tomé. Any project that begins construction after 2025 will have to be compatible with this neutrality objective and have a defined action plan for this purpose.
“Of the assets in operation, by the end of next year we have the intermediate objective that at least 20% of our generation plants have already assessed their impact with respect to the metrics and can guarantee compliance. The rest will be added gradually until reaching 100% in 2030,” they say. “Due to how we have traditionally developed our projects, we have many examples of developments that have been perfectly integrated with their surroundings and that have produced improvements in nature. This includes developments of wind energy, photovoltaic and hydraulic energy.”