Aliaga Solar II: the Ministry dismisses the 80 MWp photovoltaic project in Almogía (Málaga) for lack of an environmental impact declaration

The BOE of Saturday 7 November 2026 publishes the Resolution of 25 September 2026 of the Directorate-General for Energy Policy and Mines, dismissing the application for prior administrative authorisation and construction authorisation for the "Aliaga Solar II" photovoltaic installation of 80 MWp, located in the municipality of Almogía (Málaga), promoted by VE Sonnedix SPV Gamma, SLU (file SGEE/PFot-413). The decision rests on one central reason: as of the date of the resolution, no environmental impact declaration for the project had been issued, even though the assessment file had been declared closed in January 2023.

A file born in the extraordinary fast-track procedure

According to the resolution's background, the application was submitted on 30 November 2020, within the Specific and Rapid Processing scheme (TEyPT), under Royal Decree-Law 23/2020, of 23 June, adopting energy measures for economic recovery. According to the background, the holder of the production installation ALIAGA SOLAR I FV, SL applied for its expansion with a new installation - Aliaga Solar II - of 80 MWp, and requested recognition that the expansion could be processed under the procedure of Orden TEC/1454/2019, of 26 December.

Processing moved forward with all formal steps completed: on 11 February 2021 the prior administrative authorisation of the evacuation infrastructure (line and substation) was granted; on 17 March 2021 the guarantee deposit was formalised with the Caja General de Depósitos; on 19 April 2021 the prior administrative and construction authorisation of the Aliaga Solar I plant was granted; and on 11 May 2021 the processing of Aliaga Solar II as an expansion was accepted, without that implying the grant of the authorisation. The Government Sub-Delegation in Málaga publicised the application in the Official Gazette of the Province on 28 April 2021.

Where the file stopped: the environmental impact declaration

Environmental rules required ordinary environmental assessment, because the occupied surface exceeded 100 hectares and the installation did not fall within the exclusion cases of section 5.2 of Annex I of Royal Decree-Law 1/2020. On 11 June 2021 the company was required to submit the environmental documentation; the Sub-Delegation forwarded it in June and July 2021, and in April 2022 the Environmental Body reported that the documentation was sufficient to open the public information stage, which ran from 6 to 27 June 2022. Subsequent requests for correction were answered in September and October 2022.

But the environmental impact declaration never came. On 24 January 2023, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge declared the assessment procedure closed, since the declaration had not been issued within the established deadlines. Following a formal consultation, the Environmental Body reported in June 2025 that the procedure remained closed.

The expiry of access and connection permits

The resolution devotes one of its legal grounds to a technical question of great practical interest: the expiry calendar of Royal Decree-Law 23/2020. Its Article 1 subjects access and connection permits granted after its entry into force to time milestones: for "specific" promoters, obtaining the environmental impact declaration or equivalent document within 31 months and the prior administrative authorisation within 34 months, failure to reach the immediately following milestone being a cause of expiry of the permit.

The Directorate-General's analysis is nuanced. For Aliaga Solar II the deadlines started on 11 May 2021, the date of acceptance of the expansion, so the authorisation had to be obtained before 11 March 2024. Even so, the resolution concludes that the permits did not expire: the application was admitted for processing by the competent Directorate-General and passed the milestones of justification of the construction authorisation and of the guarantees. The ground for dismissal is not, therefore, automatic expiry, but the legal impossibility of authorising the project without an environmental impact declaration.

Guarantees and cited case law

The resolution recalls that Article 23 of Royal Decree 1183/2020, of 29 December, requires a guarantee of 40 EUR/kW to grant the access permit, intended to ensure the correct execution of the infrastructure and to prevent speculation. And it cites Supreme Court case law defining the scope of environmental impact declarations: Judgments 1046/2010, of 21 July, and 932/2010, of 16 July, tie the authorisation to the conditions of the declaration; 1591/2010, of 28 October, recalls that the administrative act is not favourable if the declaration is negative or does not exist; and 1347/2017, of 24 July, records the need for the assessment to be early enough to identify and evaluate effects.

A five-and-a-half-year calendar

Lined up, the file's dates trace the evolution of renewable processing in the period after Royal Decree-Law 23/2020: application on 30 November 2020; authorisation of the evacuation infrastructure and guarantee deposit in the first quarter of 2021; acceptance of the expansion in May 2021; environmental public information in June 2022; corrections in autumn 2022; declaration closing the assessment on 24 January 2023; consultation with the Environmental Body resolved in June 2025; and dismissal on 25 September 2026, published on 7 November 2026. Throughout that period, the sister plant Aliaga Solar I did complete its authorisation, which underlines that each project's fate depends on its own file.

The operative part: dismissal, archiving and administrative appeal

The single section of the resolution dismisses the application for prior administrative authorisation, construction authorisation and declaration of public utility of the plant and its evacuation infrastructure, and orders the archiving of the file. The resolution does not end the administrative route: an administrative appeal (recurso de alzada) may be lodged against it before the Secretary of State for Energy within one month from the day following its publication in the BOE, in accordance with Articles 121 and 122 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, and Article 62.2.i) of Law 40/2015, of 1 October, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector. Once that period has elapsed without an appeal, the resolution becomes final for all purposes. The resolution is signed in Madrid on 25 September 2026 by the Director-General for Energy Policy and Mines, Manuel García Hernández.

Practical relevance for promoters and advisers

The file offers a lesson in regulatory timing: five and a half years after its submission, the project is dismissed without its access and connection permits having expired, because of the absence of the decisive environmental piece. For firms advising renewable projects, the resolution consolidates three ideas: the TEyPT does not exempt from ordinary environmental assessment; closure of the assessment procedure for lack of a declaration is an obstacle with effects on the authorisation even if grid permits remain alive; and the expansion of an existing installation does not share the legal fate of the original plant, which in this case did obtain its authorisation in 2021.

Frequently asked questions

What has the Ministry decided about Aliaga Solar II?

To dismiss the application for prior administrative authorisation and construction of the 80 MWp photovoltaic plant in Almogía (Málaga), because no environmental impact declaration was issued.

Did the access and connection permits expire?

No. The resolution concludes that the expiry rule of Article 1 of Royal Decree-Law 23/2020 did not operate, because the project passed the milestones following its acceptance as an expansion on 11 May 2021.

What guarantee do the rules require for these permits?

Article 23 of Royal Decree 1183/2020 requires a guarantee of 40 euros per kW, intended to ensure the execution of the infrastructure and prevent speculation.

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Sources

• Resolution of 25 September 2026, Directorate-General for Energy Policy and Mines (BOE-A-2026-23369): https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2026-23369