The lack of budget forces the signing of the contracts to be postponed
The lack of financial resources has caused a delay in the signing of the contracts with the companies in charge of installing prototypes on the marine wind platform in the Gulf of Roses, known as Plemcat. According to a resolution of the end of March, the Plemcat commission has informed that the specification of the conditions of the contracts and their formalization have been temporarily postponed until further notice (https://www.softcatala.org/resum-de-textos -in Catalan/). This situation is caused by the non-approval of the budgets of the Generalitat that co-finance the Plemcat. However, this delay does not affect the processing of the project itself.
The lack of budget and the repercussions on the project
The Acció Climàtica organization has confirmed that the project is still underway, but acknowledges that the lack of budget has forced some actions to stop. Despite receiving a subsidy of 30 million euros from the ‘Redmarinas’ call, the total cost of the project is estimated at 80 million euros. The budgets approved by the Government provided for an item of 16 million euros for the test platform, but this amount has not been sufficient to cover all expenses. This has led to the prospecting of the seabed and tendering procedures having to be postponed.
The companies selected to install prototypes
A few months ago, the Institut d’Investigació en Energia de Catalunya (IREC) selected the three companies in charge of installing prototypes on the Plemcat test platform in the Gulf of Roses. The Basque company Sener, promoter of the Tramuntana park, obtained the best score, followed by X1 Wind, a Catalan company, and Esteyco, a Canarian company. In addition, there are three other companies on the waiting list in case there are any resignations.
The goals of the prototypes and the deadlines of the project
The prototypes installed on the Plemcat test platform aim to provide information on the feasibility, environmental impact and impact on biodiversity of marine mills. This information will be used to evaluate the commercial parks. According to the ‘Redmarinas’ call, this platform is expected to be operational before 2025. However, the delay in signing the contracts could affect the announced deadlines and the situation will need to be monitored.