The Câmara de Melgaço unanimously rejected the passage of a very high voltage line in the parish of Penso, with connection to Galicia, considering that it “would cause irreparable damage” to the environment, the municipality said today.
In a press release sent today to the press, the municipality, chaired by socialist Manoel Batista, explained that the project “aims at building a new three-phase double line, of very high voltage, between the Vila Fria substation in Ponte de Lima and the Rede Electricity of Spain (REE) ”.
In Portugal, the deployment area covers seven counties – Vila Verde, in the district of Braga and Ponte de Lima, Ponte da Barca, Arcos de Valdevez, Paredes de Coura, Monção and Melgaço, in the district of Viana do Castelo – and a total of 60 parishes.
Previously, the municipalities of Ponte de Lima (CDS), Arcos de Valdevez (PSD) and Monção (PSD) also made public their rejection of the project.
The Câmara de Melgaço revealed today that the project foresees the passage “in a certain area of the parish of Penso”.
“The municipality of Melgaço considers that the route presented may call into question the bet that it has made in the riverside area of the municipality, over the last few years, and that it is structuring in the economic development, namely with regard to tourism and alvarinho, areas that have aroused interest among entrepreneurs and tourists ”.
For the municipality, “the proposal for a double line from Ponte de Lima – Fonte Fria crosses the Natura 2000 Network – a special conservation area on the Minho River and the Gerês-Xurês Transboundary Biosphere Reserve where 25 fauna species listed in Annex II of the “Habitats” directive.
The municipality “stresses that the construction of the line would cause irreparable damage to the species and habitats in this area”.
In the note, the municipality said that, in June, at a meeting of the Municipal Assembly, a motion of censure was presented that stresses that the implementation of that line, on the ground, “will bring negative impacts that, in due time, should be considered, considered, minimized and, if possible, fill in ”.
The document warns that it is “urgent to ensure that the implementation of the project does not harm or compromise the lives of the people in these areas”.
At issue is the construction of a 400 kV electric line from Fonte Fria, in Galician territory, Spain, to the Portuguese border, with its extension to the national electricity grid, within the scope of the National Transport Network operated by the company REN.
In 2015, the project was “recalendarized” to be submitted to new studies.
According to the Environmental Impact Study, the national section of this project provides for the construction of two new 400 kV three-phase double lines, potentially crossing 121 parishes.
The project was in public consultation between June 15 and July 24.
The proximity of this aerial line to homes, the consequences of electromagnetic fields generated on human health or the visual impact of towers 75 meters with safety margins of 45 meters on each side are the main concerns of populations on both sides of the border.
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