en.Wedoany.com Reported - The National Environmental Licensing Authority of Colombia (ANLA) has initiated the environmental assessment of the 19.9 MW DSE Neiva Solar Park and its 34.5 kV connection line in the municipality of Neiva, Huila. This is also the first solar project submitted under the optimized design Solar Environmental Licensing (LASolar) mechanism, applicable to photovoltaic power stations in Colombia with capacities between 10 MW and 100 MW. The DSE Neiva Solar Park has thus become one of the closely watched projects under the LASolar mechanism.
The LASolar mechanism was established by Decree 1033 issued in September last year, jointly launched by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Mines and Energy. According to the regulations, the environmental licensing approval time can be reduced from 90 working days to 25 working days, allowing ANLA to make faster decisions on whether to grant environmental licenses to eligible solar park projects. ANLA stated that since the decree took effect, it has issued 22 standard verification technical opinions, of which 12 have resulted in the issuance of specific reference conditions after meeting the requirements.
Under the LASolar mechanism, projects must first pass technical and environmental standard verification before proceeding to subsequent stages. The standards include that the project must be located in already converted or previously disturbed areas and must not affect natural forests; the area of forest intervention must not exceed 10% of the project area and must not exceed 20 hectares, and must not enter the forest core zone. Projects also must not be sited within watercourse protection zones, and except for permitted local interventions, must not be located within spring protection zones and coastal zones. Solar parks must also maintain a minimum distance of at least 500 meters from each other. The DSE Neiva Solar Park has passed the verification and obtained specific reference conditions, subsequently submitting its environmental license application. ANLA has confirmed that it meets the minimum requirements and has officially initiated the assessment. The approval progress of the DSE Neiva Solar Park also reflects the application of the LASolar mechanism in Colombia's solar projects.
During the assessment stage, the competent authority will analyze the potential environmental and social impacts of the project, as well as the accompanying management measures. ANLA emphasized that the assessment process will continue to uphold the requirements for technical review, transparency, and participation, without altering the established procedures. As the LASolar mechanism advances, the subsequent approval results for the DSE Neiva Solar Park are attracting significant attention.
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