On February 8, the La Punilla reservoir project suffered a new setback, following the Third Environmental Court annulled the environmental qualification resolution (RCA) of the Punilla-San Fabián electric transmission line project, which will allow the evacuation of the energy generated in the future hydroelectric plant of the reservoir.
As you may remember, the environmental impact study of the project was presented in 2017 by the then concessionaire Astaldi, and as indicated in the document, it considers the construction of a 220 kV transmission line, 23 kilometers long.
Due to the end of the concession contract with the Astaldi company, ownership of the project passed into the hands of the Ministry of Public Works, which is currently carrying out a bidding process for a new concession for the reservoir and its complementary works.
According to the current bidding schedule, the deadline for receiving technical offers for the new concession is April 19 of this year, without to date the MOP having announced a new change in deadline, due to the modifications that were expected to be introduced to the project to incorporate environmental and social mitigation measures.
Although it was not possible to obtain the MOP’s view on this setback; Since the project will be concessioned, it is the responsibility of the concessionaire company to obtain the permits, as well as the construction and operation of the transmission line.
In fact, the main obstacle of the reservoir does not seem to be the transmission line, but rather providing an adequate response to the demands of the community in environmental and social matters, which were precisely what led the Boric administration to stop the bidding process. of the new concession, started in November 2021.
Irrigators ask for certainty
Fernando Rueda, president of the Ñuble River Surveillance Board (JVRÑ), an entity that brings together the future beneficiaries of the reservoir, stated that, “we have outlined the Nueva La Punilla Reservoir project as our main objective for 2024, obviously. , without leaving aside our main work, which is related to the correct distribution of the waters of the Ñuble River, among our nearly five thousand users, who also eagerly await the completion of this work that will allow irrigation security for regarding 67,100 hectares, considering current and new irrigators.”
It is worth remembering that the Minister of Public Works, Jéssica López, announced at the end of June of last year that the awarding of the most important work in the pipeline for Ñuble, with an investment close to US$ 370 million, will be carried out during the first half of the year. of this year.
To achieve this objective, the JVRÑ is requesting meetings with Minister López, and also hopes to soon hold a pending work meeting between Concessions, the Directorate of Hydraulic Works and the irrigators, to clarify some questions.
“We have pending work instances with the MOP, who have already committed to coming to talk regarding the project with our users, so we hope, in the coming days, to set a date for that activity. To this we want to add communication with the minister to continue advancing the project, as the government has committed,” added Rueda, who was optimistic regarding the steps that the Ministry will announce in the coming days.
Asked regarding the setback represented by the Environmental Court ruling, the president of the JVRÑ stated that, “we are requesting a meeting with the MOP to find out what actions it intends to take with the project.” Furthermore, the leader noted that, “it must be taken into account that in the first concession to Astaldi, they were the ones who managed the RCA of the transmission line, therefore, the continuity of the project should not be hindered or be an impediment to its materialization. This can be established in the bidding rules. Let us also remember that the RCA of the La Punilla Reservoir project is fully in force, through resolution N18/2010 and the current government of President Boric is fully aware of that when pushing the initiative.”
Doubts with the schedule
In this context, Senator Gustavo Sanhueza commented that, “a few days ago I requested some meetings with the MOP, so that the minister can explain what the bidding schedule for the La Punilla reservoir will be for this year. Let us remember that thanks to a meeting we held with Minister Mario Marcel, where the main unions of the country and the region participated, we finally managed to get the Minister of Public Works to confirm that the project will be awarded this first semester. In that sense, the farmers of the Ñuble River deserve new feedback on the evolution of this process and that the committed deadlines are actually met. “What happened before cannot happen once more, when there was no valid interlocutor from the Ministry and the irrigators were relegated to their own fate.”
The parliamentarian also stated that “we have also not heard the Ministry’s position regarding the cancellation of the RCA of the Punilla-San Fabián transmission line and what the next steps will be. It is an issue that at least deserves to be addressed with the speed and relevance that this sentence deserves.”
“And what is very important for the community of San Fabián – continued the senator -, we are also waiting for news from the MOP regarding the progress of the Social Mitigation Plan for the commune. The La Punilla reservoir is a fundamental project for the development of Ñuble, where all actors must be respected and considered, with a proactive attitude on the part of the authorities and the technical teams that are working on the new tender.”
Punilla Table
From the Punilla Roundtable, made up of representatives of residents, organizations and the municipality of San Fabián as guarantor, chaired by Humberto Illanes, they demanded, through a public statement, “the immediate and indefinite suspension of the tender for the Embalse Nueva project. “La Punilla”.
It was indicated that “this suspension should last, at least, until the MOP authorities reach a fully satisfactory agreement with the communities of San Fabián, which specifically considers the commune of San Fabián and particularly the mountain communities and the who live on Route N-31, as directly affected by the Nueva La Punilla reservoir, this, through updating the RCA of the project, which would also allow updating the baseline of the project and thereby properly evaluating the risk component, today more necessary than ever in the face of the specific effects of climate change that we see year following year, but also with regard to tourism, the main productive axis of the place and the protection of the existing flora and fauna. The information that the project considers today is obsolete, as it is dated, in most cases, to nearly twenty years ago.”
The organization recalled that, “since the beginning of this government and also adding the previous two, we have participated in numerous spaces for dialogue and work, to address the concerns and challenges that come with both presenting our requirements as affected communities, as well as the challenges of the re-bidding of the Nueva La Punilla Reservoir project, maintaining contact with the authorities in order to mediate and unite criteria regarding legitimate demands for protection, mitigation, health, safety, accessibility and compensation of the commune of San Fabián, as well as also as protection and respect for the unique biodiversity that the territory presents, which would be profoundly harmed by the construction of the reservoir, which in the end did not consider any modification to its design.”
He also maintained that they have expressed their concern regarding the volcanological risk and the situation of some families affected by the relocation and compliance with the social plan.
“However, despite the communication and effort deployed to date, there has been no concrete response to these demands and considering that the bidding process continues without modifications, we believe that the State, through the MOP, does not want take charge of the structural problems that the project presents and that these will ultimately be left to the discretion of a possible company awarded the work,” he stated.
Regarding the cancellation of the RCA of the Punilla-San Fabián line, the Punilla Table declared that the work intervenes in the protected area of Huemul with 72 high voltage towers that “affect the mountain communities of El Principal, El Caracol, Los Puquios , Mortality and The Guards.” Likewise, he pointed out that “this work is dependent on and an integral part of the Nueva La Punilla Reservoir project, so its cancellation also affects the conditions of the ongoing tender.”
“This new setback, added to the failed concession to the Astaldi company, would be reaffirming to us that the MOP is doing things wrong and that the voluntarism of reaching this business will have dire consequences for the entire community of San Fabián, but it will also be a problem for the companies interested (if any) in the bidding for the work, since they will inherit a conflict that the State has not resolved with our communities, as well as the uncertainties due to changes in the conditions of the concession bases would bring them. other problems not visible today,” the Board warned.
The organization declared itself “on high alert awaiting the decision made by the MOP.”
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