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The project of the largest photovoltaic park in Romania, worth 800 million euros, developed by the Monsson group in Arad county, is blocked in court by the “Societatea Carpatina Ardeleană” Association, which claims that the land is a protected area, and the works would affect the habitat of several bird species.
“The land on which that investment is proposed, the photovoltaic park, is in a protected natural area, it basically has a double status, it is a Natura 2000 site for the protection of birds and for the protection of habitats. It would, from our point of view, have a very big impact, especially on the birds that use that land, feeding habitat, nesting habitat, migration habitat. This is the reason why we attacked the environmental notices in court”, Márk Nagy János, the president of the Satu Mare branch of the Association “Societatea Carpatina Ardeleană”, announced.
He added that the association lost two cases on the merits at the Satu Mare Court, but at the Oradea Court of Appeal, it obtained the resending of the case for retrial at the Court.
The representative of the association also said that from the initial phase of the project, letters were sent to the two town halls that issued the authorizations, as well as to the Arad County Council, in order to draw attention to environmental issues.
“We are not against renewable energy, on the contrary, we support and promote this kind of energy production, but the place must be chosen very well, especially since it is a very large area, over a thousand hectares”, said Márk Nagy János.
He believes that “a degraded land for agriculture is good for nature”, referring to the fact that the authorities chose this land because it is not cultivable.
According to its own website, the Carpathian Ardelean Society is a non-profit, non-governmental association, founded in 1891 in Cluj, which had “a forced break of 50 years” in operation, being re-established in 1991 for “the protection of the natural and human environment, the practice and the popularization of hiking and ecotourism in general, the knowledge, popularization and protection of cultural and ethnographic values”.
On the other side, the mayor of Grăniceri commune, Petru Claudiu Bătrînuţ, said that although the construction permit for the photovoltaic park on the surface of 1,064 hectares was issued last year, when the works were to start, the project was blocked, and the investors still pay all local taxes related to the lands on which the energy project would be developed. The mayor said that, if the court issues a definitive solution this year and is favorable to the investment, the works would start in the spring.
At the end of November 2022, investors and county authorities presented the project of the largest photovoltaic park in Europe, which will have a capacity of 1,044 MW and was to become operational in December 2024.
Monssom shows that the project includes one of the largest vocational training centers in the area, and at least 1,000 people will work daily to build the park. Later, upon completion of the works, up to 200 people will be employed for operation and maintenance.
Sebastian Enache, Monssonțs representative revealed that Monsson has about 2,000 MW in the project for Arad county, and two more photovoltaic parks will be built in the area of Chişinău-Criș and Macea, which together will have about 800 MW. These two parks would be completed in 2026, the investments being around 600 million euros. The three projects in Arad county developed by Monsson would mean total investments of 1.4 billion euros, to which is added 200 million euros invested in an energy storage station with a capacity of approximately 500 MW, in Grăniceri.
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