Ministry must halt Israeli solar project threatening the environment

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Ahead of today’s meeting of the expert committee assessing the project’s environmental impact, the environmental organisation Zelena akcija / FoE Croatia warned of the harmful consequences of the Gala–Obrovac Sinj solar power plant (SPP). The meeting took place at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition, where activists staged a performance outside, symbolically discarding the environmental impact study into a rubbish bin, arguing it was inadequate and poorly prepared. “As a first step, we urge the committee to issue a negative opinion on the study. We then expect the Ministry, in its ruling, to declare the project environmentally unacceptable,” said Marija Mileta of FoE Croatia.

The project is being carried out by the Israeli company Enlight Renewable Energy through its Croatian subsidiary, Aureus Solis. Back in July, FoE Croatia had already drawn attention to the problematic aspects of both the project and its investor. “This project is a prime example of the type of renewable energy development we do not support. On one hand, there are legitimate concerns about its environmental impact; on the other, it is a corporate mega-project rather than a community-led initiative, undertaken by a company connected to the Israeli regime responsible for genocide”, stated Marija Mileta.

FoE Croatia emphasises that the key issue is who carries out renewable energy projects and how. “The proposed development is situated in a hydrologically sensitive karst area, just 1.5 km from the Kosinac water source, which supplies drinking water to the Cetina region”, underlined Marija Mileta. She further stressed that the project, covering 252 hectares of pristine forest and shrubland, is entirely unacceptable. “We advocate using already degraded sites and supporting small-scale producers rather than large corporations”, Mileta explained.

She added that the project involves clearing forest and vegetation, which increases the risk of contaminating the water supply. Furthermore, the planned transmission line is not included in spatial planning documents, passes through protected areas, and its impacts have not been evaluated in the study. The project area also lies close to Dinara Nature Park, yet the study provides no thorough analysis of potential effects on this protected site. Strictly protected plant species have also been recorded within the project zone. “It is important to emphasise that the local community opposes the project on environmental grounds, and FoE Croatia fully supports them”, Mileta concluded.

As for the investor itself, Mileta pointed out its highly problematic background. “Cooperation with a company that operates on occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories and collaborates with the Israeli army, responsible for genocide, must be unequivocally rejected”, she concluded.