“Sea of glass” planned around Évora will have “catastrophic impact” on city’s World Heritage status

Plans to install three large-scale solar power plants on land north of Évora have triggered warnings that the projects will have a “catastrophic” impact on the setting of the city’s UNESCO World Heritage site, potentially jeopardising its internationally recognised status.

The warning came from architect Miguel Lima during a public hearing organised by the Évora Municipal Assembly, where concerns were raised about proposals to cover around 1,700 hectares of countryside with photovoltaic panels between five and 12 kms from the city’s historic walls.

Using visual simulations of the approach to Évora, Lima argued that the developments would fundamentally alter the landscape surrounding one of Portugal’s most important heritage sites.

“If these projects go ahead, the setting of the World Heritage city will be surrounded by a sea of glass (…) I have no doubt that this causes a structural transformation of the landscape associated with the property inscribed as World Heritage. What concerns us is the scale of the intervention. The transformation of the landscape will have a very negative impact on the approach to the city – altering the setting of the listed property in a way that I consider catastrophic.”

Lima – a former regional director of Portugal’s architectural heritage authority – called for a dedicated heritage impact assessment before environmental studies are even undertaken, citing recommendations from ICOMOS, the international body that advises UNESCO on World Heritage conservation.

“What should be done here is a heritage impact assessment to determine whether these projects are compatible with protecting the setting and surroundings of the World Heritage city, which were decisive factors in its UNESCO classification,” he said.

The projects have also drawn criticism because a significant portion of the land earmarked for solar panels belongs to the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation, one of the region’s most influential cultural and philanthropic institutions.

“It is difficult for me to understand how a foundation with such responsibility for protecting the municipality’s and the region’s heritage can allow this artificial transformation of the landscape on such a scale,”said Lima, saying he finds it “incomprehensible.”

Developers, however, reject claims that the solar farms pose any threat to Évora’s heritage status.

Speaking at the same hearing, Hyperion Renewables director Diogo Trindade, whose company is behind two of the three planned projects, insisted that there is no risk to the UNESCO designation of the city’s historic centre.

This debate has intensified as local campaign group Juntos pelo Divor argues that the developments would create what critics describe as a “forest of glass” covering the equivalent of 1,700 football pitches.

Writing in a local opinion article, Évora columnist Pedro Ferreira said the projects would leave a permanent mark on the Alentejo landscape, affecting soil, watercourses, wildlife and the visual identity of the region.

Supporters argue that projects like these are essential for Portugal’s renewable energy transition. Opponents say the scale and location of developments raise serious questions about balancing climate goals with the protection of cultural heritage.

Ferreira had a question at the hearing, which, like a number of others, received no answer during the two-and-a-half hours of discussions: “Can a company with a share capital of €5,000 and no history of profits guarantee the removal of this forest of glass at the end of its useful life?”

It is a question that could apply to so many companies that have appeared on the scene in the race to ‘transition’ to renewable energies – and it is just one moment among so many taking place in the Alentejo right now, and beyond. Communities everywhere are starting to rise up and say “no”, to what appears to be a strategy to turn Portugal into a form of renewable energies corridor – not simply servicing the needs of the country, but those of power and water hungry data centres, and other technological advances planned, as well as exporting energy elsewhere into Europe.

Just one of the recent protests taking place elsewhere in Portugal, this one in the Beira Baixa where massive solar projects are due to straddle three municipalities

Source material: Alentejo ilustrado/ DianaFM