Withdrawal of the FV Torremendo photovoltaic plant in Orihuela

The Territorial Service of Industry, Energy and Mines of Alicante (STIEMA) has declared the withdrawal of the company CLERE IBERICA 3, S.L.U. (CIF B05495528) regarding its application for prior administrative and construction authorization for the FV TORREMENDO photovoltaic plant, with an installed capacity of 1,000 kW and a granted access capacity of 1,000 kW, to be located in the municipality of Orihuela. The resolution, corresponding to file ATALFE/2024/9/03, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante number 171, dated September 9, 2026.

The plant was projected on plot 31 of polygon 103 of Orihuela, on non-urbanizable land, and was therefore subject to the integrated authorization procedure for photovoltaic plants under Decree-law 14/2020, of August 7, of the Consell, regarding measures to accelerate the implementation of renewable energy facilities. As it was a project with a capacity equal to or less than 10 MW, it was processed via the urgency procedure, with deadlines reduced by half.

A file initiated in 2024

The application was submitted by CLERE IBERICA 3, S.L.U. on March 27, 2024, through the electronic registry of the Generalitat Valenciana (entry GVRTE/2024/1438617), and admitted for processing on May 17, 2024. The project included the photovoltaic plant, the interconnection line to be transferred to the distribution network manager, the environmental impact study, the landscape integration study, and the decommissioning and land restoration plan.

The public information period took place for 30 days through the following media:

• Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana, dated February 7, 2025 (no. 10042).
• Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante, dated February 4, 2025 (no. 23).
• Notice board of the electronic headquarters of the Orihuela City Council, from February 6 to 27, 2025.

During the process, several sectoral reports were received, including favorable reports from the Rural Improvement Section, the Territorial Risk Management Service, and the Territorial Planning Service, as well as a conditionally favorable report from the Landscape Service, along with an unfavorable report from the Directorate General of Natural and Animal Environment.

The unfavorable environmental report, key to the abandonment

On August 20, 2026 (entry GVRTE/2026/3794576), the promoter submitted their express and total withdrawal. In its writing, the company indicated that the General Directorate of Natural and Animal Environment had issued report FV_300/2025, which was unfavorable, considering that the installation is located within the scope of the Natural Resource Management Plan currently being processed for the future Sierra Escalona and Dehesa de Campoamor Natural Park, and that its execution would entail a significant transformation of the physical and biological reality of the environment, in application of article 28 of Law 11/1994, on Protected Natural Spaces of the Comunitat Valenciana.

Given the lack of viability of the project under the processed terms, the company decided not to continue the procedure. The withdrawal is limited exclusively to the application and file ATALFE/2024/9/03, without entailing a waiver of other rights of the company.

Effects and appeals

The resolution, signed on August 26, 2026, by the head of STIEMA, orders its publication in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana and in the Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante, as well as notification to the administrations and bodies that intervened in the procedure. An administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed against it before the General Directorate of Energy and Mines within one month of its notification.

The withdrawal of the project means that the plot in Orihuela will not host this photovoltaic installation, in a context of increasing pressure on non-urbanizable land in the region and the protection of natural spaces currently under processing. The decision confirms the weight of the environmental ruling on the viability of energy projects in the Vega Baja.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Alicante, no. 171 of 09/09/2026, II. Autonomous Administration, pág. 1-6 (official reference: resolution 6739/2026, file ATALFE/2024/9/03).