Public utility of the Valiente II wind farm and its evacuation line

The General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines, under the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, has specifically declared the public utility of the Valiente II wind farm, with an installed capacity of 88.4 MW, and its evacuation infrastructure within the municipal terms of Gurrea de Gállego, Alcalá de Gurrea, Almudévar, Lupiñén-Ortilla, and La Sotonera, in the province of Huesca. The resolution, signed in Madrid on October 1, 2026, by the director general Manuel García Hernández, is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Huesca no. 210, dated November 3, 2026, within the State Administration section, under file PEol-246 and verification code BOPH-2026-210018. This recognition enables the promoter, Renovalia Guara, S.L.U., to occupy the lands listed in the annex of the resolution.

The file was processed in accordance with Royal Decree 1955/2000, of December 1, and Article 56 of Law 24/2013, of December 26, on the Electricity Sector, which recognizes free business initiative for the supply of electrical energy. The instruction was handled by the Industry and Energy Area of the Government Delegation in Aragon, which issued a report on October 3, 2025, later supplemented. According to the published text, the recognition of public utility entails the right to be granted the appropriate authorization for the establishment, passage, or occupation of the installation on lands of public domain, use, or service, or state-owned assets, those of the autonomous communities, or public, private, or communal lands of the province or municipality.

Three years of procedures and a change of ownership

The installation has accumulated more than three years of processing, with two previous authorizations and a modification of the evacuation line:

• April 24, 2023: prior administrative authorization granted to Mowe Energía XII, SL, published in the Official State Gazette no. 130, of June 1, 2023.
• July 5, 2024: prior administrative authorization for modifications and administrative construction authorization in favor of Renovalia Guara, S.L.U., published in the Official State Gazette no. 173, of July 18, 2024.
• April 9, 2025: the promoter requests the declaration of public utility and, in parallel, a modification of the construction authorization.
• May 28 and 29, 2025: public information in the Official State Gazette and in the Official Gazette of the Province of Huesca, respectively; the announcement was also published in the Diario del Alto Aragón on June 9, 2025.

The construction modification, which the resolution considers a separate procedure, has a specific objective: to underground the 220 kV high-voltage line between the SET Valiente II 30/220 kV substation and Red Eléctrica de España’s SET Esquedas 220 kV, between towers 67 and 76. The reason was to make the installation compatible with the activity of Agrícola Manzana, S.L.U., in Lupiñén-Ortilla, following the agreement reached with the company. The assets and rights affected by this modification fall outside the scope of this resolution.

A wind farm with its own substation and connection to Esquedas

The project comprises the 88.4 MW wind farm and its evacuation infrastructure: 30 kV underground power lines, the SET PE Valiente II 30/220 kV electrical substation, and the 220 kV overhead line between that substation and REE’s SET Esquedas 220 kV. The annex of the resolution lists the affected lands plot by plot, including polygon, plot number, and cadastral reference, across the five mentioned municipalities; most of the estates are concentrated in Gurrea de Gállego, Alcalá de Gurrea, Almudévar, and La Sotonera. This list updates the one published in May 2025, after the developer provided proof of occupation agreements for certain plots, which are now exempt.

Objections from irrigators and institutional consents

The Comunidad de Regantes de Almudévar submitted objections and opposed the project, considering that there was no overriding public interest, that there were incompatibilities with urban planning, and impacts on agricultural activity and irrigation infrastructure. The developer maintained that the process was limited to the modification of a part of the evacuation and to public utility, and provided a collaboration agreement signed on June 11, 2026, with the irrigation community, which establishes the technical conditions to make the line compatible with irrigation. The other consulted administrations raised no opposition, including the Instituto Aragonés de Gestión Ambiental (INAGA), the Dirección General de Patrimonio Cultural del Gobierno de Aragón, the Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro, ADIF, and the Diputación General de Aragón. Nor did the city councils of Almudévar, Gurrea de Gállego, Alcalá de Gurrea, and La Sotonera, Enagás, S.A., RWE Renewables Iberia, S.A., or the Gerencia Territorial del Catastro de Huesca respond, which is understood as consent according to article 146.1 of Real Decreto 1955/2000.

The resolution does not exhaust administrative remedies: an administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be filed before the holder of the Secretary of State for Energy within one month from the day following its notification or publication. The authorization is granted without prejudice to the sectoral concessions and permits that may still be necessary to execute the work.

This step clears the last major administrative uncertainty of the project and transforms the declaration into the title that allows the developer to claim the occupation of the properties listed in the annex. For the affected owners of Gurrea de Gállego, Alcalá de Gurrea, Almudévar, Lupiñén-Ortilla, and La Sotonera, the one-month period to appeal before the Secretary of State for Energy is now the primary window for action against an installation that defines the energy future of the region.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Huesca, no. 210, of November 3, 2026, State Administration, p. 53 (official reference: BOPH-2026-210018).