Contestations of energy transitions in peri-urban areas: The solar parks of the Vall d’Albaida (Spain)

Abstract

The European transition to renewable energy sources is increasingly reconfiguring land use in rural and peri-urban areas. These processes of change have diverse local social, ecological, and economic implications, and trigger divergent responses that range from outright contestation and protest, to welcoming and accommodating renewable energy projects. This paper analyses the dynamics and responses to the construction of large-scale solar plants in the peri-urban and rural landscape of Vall d’Albaida (Valencia, Spain). Through the analysis of grey literature, media reports and semi-structured interviews with diverse actors involved in, or affected by, photovoltaic power stations, this study dissects how processes of enclosure, encroachment, exclusion, and entrenchment take place simultaneously, conditioning a wide range of responses from stakeholders. While some activists openly challenge the projects, numerous local residents and farmers accommodate the construction. The reasons for the latter include economic motivations that relate to the wider context of the agricultural sector in the region; untransparent project trajectories and decision-making; a lack of resources to contest or a limited responsibility felt to openly contest. Through the analysis of both contestations and accommodations, as well as the underlying processes, the paper expands the current debate on local implications of the renewable energy transition in peri-urban areas.