Ansola: “Wind farms have an impact on the environment, but they also benefit emissions”

Inigo AnsolaCEO of the EVEthe Basque Energy Entity, was interviewed this Wednesday on Radio Euskadi’s “Boulevard” program, where he pointed out that the energy dependency that Europe has from other countries. “Energy policies needed renewable energy to combat climate change, and in that sense they were trying to implement this type of energy, but in the last year, since the war in Ukraine began, everything has accelerated due to this dependency”, he said. Regarding the gas and electricity priceshe did not want to predict “where the shots will go”, since “there could be many changes”.

Without leaving aside the present, he has also referred to the Labraza and Azazeta wind farms, of which he has said that they have already obtained the environmental impact statement. “The more renewable energies, the less fossil hydrocarbons. Therefore the price of electricity will drop. Hopefully we can materialize as soon as possible these projects,” he said.

Each park will have 40 megawatts of power installed, but, according to Ansola, “the road does not end there, we need more renewable energy”. “These parks have their Impact on the environmentbut also a beneficial impact on the emissions, and in turn are fully compatible with the environment. The great challenge of all these projects is how to socialize these infrastructures and make the citizens of the area benefit, both in terms of energy access and their participation”, he added.

He has also been in favor of repowering wind farms, “but that will come when the business plan for each park ends.” “By modernizing the parks we are not going to get all the renewable energy we need either, that is why new parks are needed,” he stressed.

Asked by him contingency plan which has been active since August 2022, the general director of EVE has been satisfied: “We are on the right track in terms of natural gas consumption, since it has been reduced by 20% as of January.”

Finally, it has considered that it is “good news” that Iberdrola has obtained 4.3 billion euros in 2022. “These benefits have a direct impact on the value chain. Being a Basque company, its benefits redound to all Basque citizens. It helps to have a society with high quality indices in all public services,” he concluded.