The Sentury tire plant construction project may be disrupted

Plans by the Chinese tire company Sentury to build a plant in Galicia (Spain) are threatened by the insufficient development of the region's energy infrastructure. This was stated by the Minister of Economy and Industry of Galicia, María Jesús Lorenzana, who called for amendments to the national industry and strategic autonomy law approved by the central government of Spain.

In 2022, Sentury announced that it intended to build a tire plant worth 540 million euros in As Pontes, which was expected to produce 12 million car tires per year. The project was later frozen due to problems related to energy infrastructure, and Sentury redirected the allocated funds to expand production in Morocco.

As Lorenzana noted, Madrid's recent proposals do not solve the problems associated with the "lack of energy planning" in regions such as Galicia. According to her, the new law "does not take into account that the existing transmission and distribution networks are insufficient for the implementation of planned industrial projects", which are therefore "hanging by a thread".

The minister added that investors are waiting for the construction of two substations, which are expected to be put into operation in 2028, but "we do not know if the energy supply for all projects in As Pontes will be guaranteed".

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