The Minister of Economy and Industry, María Jesús Lorenzana, met yesterday with the Alcoa works council and together they demanded that the company meet the missing environmental requirements and that the central government “take care” of the company’s energy needs. promised.” This was expressed after their meeting by the minister and the chairman of the committee, José Antonio Zán, who appeared before the media to report on the issues discussed at the meeting.
Among them, the file of the red mud basins, currently being processed. As the advisor pointed out, the swell of the basin is “indispensable” to the activity of the plant. “I take this opportunity once again to demand that Alcoa meet the requirements of the Xunta. “It is currently up to Alcoa to complete them so that we can authorize the rise of the pond, of course, with all the complex environmental procedures that this entails, so that there is a future for the continuity of Alcoa’s activity,” said the head of Economy and Industry.
Lorenzana insisted that the company “must be serious” with the file and thus “express its willingness to continue its activity, to continue working in Galicia.” Regarding the company’s energy demand, both spokesmen stressed the urgency for the central executive to “fulfil” its commitment to “meet the energy needs” of the company.
The councilor recalled that all the wind farms that supply Alcoa, under the jurisdiction of the Xunta, are authorized, “except one that already has an environmental impact statement”, which is why she requested, in particular, the Minister of Ecological Transition, who “keeps her word” when he said he would provide a solution to wind farms whose access and connection permits had been refused.
In this regard, he also indicated that the status of electro-intensive companies must be modified. “The energy issue is crucial for Alcoa or a potential buyer to be able to continue this activity,” the minister stressed.
