Redaccion
«The non-receipt of this aid does not alter the planned roadmap,» makes it clear, while seeking «other public financing instruments»
Altri ensures that it has not yet received «official communication» from the Ministry of Industry that it will not receive aid from the Industrial Decarbonization Perte for its project in Palas de Rei (Lugo). However, it announces that it will appeal this exclusion, while guaranteeing that the project «continues as planned» even if it does not receive this support.
This is how the company expresses itself in a statement this Wednesday, after the Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz, has stated that the Government will not include Altri among the beneficiaries of European funds associated with the Decarbonization Perte, arguing that they will not support «any project that puts the population at risk,» following a report from ‘elDiario.es’ that anticipated this decision by the Government.
On the other hand, Greenfiber –a subsidiary of the Portuguese multinational Altri associated with the energy company Greenalia– explains that their participation in this Perte call «was done with full knowledge that, within the framework of commitments made to the European Commission, which stipulate that candidate projects must be completed by March 31, 2026, Gama (the name of the factory) could not be eligible due to time constraints, unless, as communicated to the company, the Spanish government were to reach an agreement with the European Commission for an extension, considering that there were other projects in the same situation of non-compliance with the execution deadline.» «As of today, we are not aware that the European Commission has approved such an extension,» they add.
Therefore, they will challenge the resolution of the Ministry of Industry, «confident that the Spanish Government can reach an agreement with the European Commission for an extension of the execution deadline and take into consideration the company’s allegations.»
«In any case, the decision to continue with the project has never been dependent on Gama’s inclusion in the Industrial Decarbonization Perte,» they make clear. Altri indicates that this «is one of the avenues the company is exploring to structure the project’s financing and reduce the risk of the initial investment, which exceeds €1 billion, associated with the use of new technologies and a high level of innovation, not to cover the project’s operational costs.» «Therefore, the non-receipt of this aid does not alter the planned roadmap,» the company concludes.
This controversial project of a textile fiber factory based on cellulose, which has sparked numerous protests in Galicia to denounce its potential impacts, received environmental approval from the Xunta last March, considering it viable. The company has stated that they are seeking €250 million in public aid with an investment of nearly €1 billion.
Nevertheless, Altri emphasizes that the project «continues as planned,» progressing in the next steps such as the Integrated Environmental Authorization, «as well as in the identification of other public financing instruments previously used by the Spanish Government for other industrial projects that, like this one, also stand out for their specific focus on projects with a high impact on decarbonization and technological innovation.»
