The president of the Port Authority of Valencia has stressed that, with the latest modifications, the processing of a new EID is unnecessary.
The new terminal will generate 15,000 additional jobs.
Valencia, 27th February 2020.- The president of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV), Aurelio Martínez, participated yesterday in an event organized by the group of the PSPV-PSOE del Marítimo under the title “Valencia, Global Port”. During the meeting, Aurelio Martínez explained to the members of the group the importance the new container terminal, that will be located in the northern expansion of the port of Valencia, will have for the city.
During the meeting, Martínez stressed that the processing of a new Environmental Impact Declaration for this project is unnecessary and recalled the PAV has agreed to introduce two important modifications to the two aspects of the draft that have supported the negative allegations. These modifications, which have been accredited by external reports, guarantee that the extension of the jetty can be dispensed, as the report commissioned to CEDEX has ratified, and that the current dredging -except 18 meters- is sufficient for operation of ships in the new terminal.
Given these modifications, the president of the PAV has insisted a new EID is not necessary since the works to be carried out are strictly internal and do not affect any of the assumptions established by the law that require its processing. In particular, as detailed by Aurelio Martínez, “there is no significant increase in emissions to the atmosphere, nor in discharges to public riverbeds or coast; there is no significant increase in the generation of waste or the use of natural resources, and there is no affection to Red Natura 2000 protected areas. For this reason, all legal services guarantee the 2007 EIS is still fully in force”.
Moreover, Aurelio Martínez has also highlighted the competitive advantages that having a transoceanic port such as Valenciaport provides for companies. He recalled that, in 2019, the port of Valencia handled 80 million tons and remained the first port in Spain and the fifth in Europe in container traffic. “Our geostrategic situation, he added, generates very important competitive advantages for us because in our closest hinterland we house 55% of Spain’s GDP and 60% of the country’s exports. This allows us to generate very important economies of scale that result in the competitiveness of our services and, therefore, in the competitiveness of the Valencian and Spanish companies that use us in their exports”.
Martínez also defended the economic impact of Valenciaport in the Valencian Community. According to the data from the latest research prepared by the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valenciaport generates 38,866 jobs, 2.09% of the total number of jobs in the region. In addition, the report on the northern expansion commissioned by the CEV and Propeller Valencia shows that private investment in the new terminal -around 1,100 million euros- will generate around 15,000 additional jobs.
Furthermore, the president of the PAV recalled that the new terminal planned in the northern expansion is going to be the most environmentally advanced in the world, since it will minimize CO2 emissions through the electricity supply to ships and through the use of up to 98% of electrical machinery. As Aurelio Martínez indicated, this commitment of the new terminal to the environment is aligned with the commitment to sustainability of the Port Authority of Valencia. “A commitment,” explained the president of the PAV, “which has led Valenciaport to be chosen by the European Union as the headquarters of the Superlab Ports for the Climate-Kic project, a laboratory on climate change in port environments”.