Faro, Portugal, April 14, 2026 (Lusa) – The Algarve and Alentejo Sustainability and Biodiversity Platform (PPSBAA) has opposed a proposal to modify wind hybridisation projects for four solar plants during a public consultation.
It said that the proposal fails to resolve the structural issues that led to a previous unfavourable assessment. According to the Platform, the project causes "significant and very significant impacts on ecological systems" and deserves a "negative opinion" in its Environmental Impact Assessment.
It warned that impacts would be felt "particularly on birdlife and the ecological processes associated with the territory's functionality".
The Platform submitted its opinion during the public consultation, which began on 2 April and runs until Thursday.
"This opinion concerns the proposed amendment to the wind power projects for the integration of the photovoltaic plants at Viçoso, Pereiro, São Marcos and Albercas, submitted under Article 16 of the Legal Framework for Environmental Impact Assessment, to issue, as part of the public consultation process, an opinion opposing their approval," it said.
The PPSBAA said that the proposal still relies on the same "spatial logic" despite the relocation or reduction of wind turbines and that the proponents failed to provide a "sufficiently robust analysis" of the project's adaptation to the territory or demonstrate that the proposed solution "differs significantly from the previous one".
"The project’s central problem remains, which is the occupation of an ecologically sensitive territory, which functions as a multifunctional ecological corridor, by a large-scale wind infrastructure," it said.
It warned of a "persistent structural conflict with the ecological, territorial, and social values of the area". Located in the north-eastern Algarve, this territory possesses "high ecological sensitivity", and the project would introduce "environmental and public health incompatibilities".
The proximity of protected areas, such as the Vale do Guadiana Natural Park or the Caldeirão Special Area of Conservation (ZEC), justifies a "prudent and conservative" approach to the assessment, according to the Platform.
The area constitutes "one of the most important ecological hubs in southern Portugal for birds of prey and large gliders", such as the Bonelli's eagle, golden eagle, Iberian imperial eagle, goshawk, and eagle owl, face collision risks, disrupted routes, and a more degraded ecological territory, it said.
Mammals such as the Iberian lynx could be affected. This endangered species is currently being reintroduced in the north-eastern Algarve and Lower Alentejo, as well as in parts of Spanish Andalusia and Extremadura, under a joint Portuguese-Spanish reproduction and reintroduction project.
The opinion further alerts to impacts on human populations, including noise from wind turbines and the effects of low frequencies and infrasound on health.
The Platform is calling for an unfavourable Environmental Impact Assessment for the proposed modifications to the wind projects at the Viçoso, Pereiro, São Marcos, and Albercas solar plants.
It cites a "high risk" to biodiversity, the territory, and local populations, noting that the proposal failed to overcome previously identified shortcomings.
MHC/RYOL // ADB.
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