The Regional Minister for Economy and Industry, María Jesús Lorenzana, today demanded a serious commitment from the central government to the reindustrialisation of just transition areas in Galicia, which, she said, must begin by providing them with funding and improved electricity interconnection networks to facilitate the establishment of new projects.

In response to a question during a plenary session of Parliament, Lorenzana stated that, in the specific case of the municipality of As Pontes, the regional government has already declared three industrial projects as strategic, all of which are planned to be established in the area: the renewable hydrogen plant promoted by Reganosa and EDP (H2Pole); the Biofibras de Galicia project by the Ence Group; and the Sentury Tire project. All three have already completed their environmental impact assessments, and the Reganosa and EDP project also has its integrated environmental authorisation published.

These are projects, she continued, that have been processed by the Xunta de Galicia “with the utmost urgency,” well within the average timeframes for such procedures. Yet, as of 2025, they have not been authorised nor are they operational, and therefore cannot yet compensate for the job losses resulting from the closure of the thermal power station—due in part to problems related to the lack of electricity supply. In fact, she referred to the just transition tender process for assigning the As Pontes evacuation node.

In her speech, Lorenzana criticised the government’s lack of industrial policy, which led to the closure of thermal power plants like the one in As Pontes without proper planning, the loss of opportunities presented by the PERTEs (Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation), and the discrimination against industrial projects in Galicia compared to those in other autonomous communities.

Finally, the minister pointed out that the Xunta de Galicia is managing over 110 million euros from the just transition fund, aiming to maximise returns for industrial activity in areas affected by the power plant closures, particularly in the As Pontes region.