Moura: Campaign advocates the nationalization of the solar plant that will close.
The Jobs Campaign for Climate in Portugal argued today that the government should nationalize the MFS - Moura Solar Factory, belonging to a Spanish company and will close, to produce solar panels for public buildings.
In a statement sent to Lusa, the campaign, covering various associations, social and environmental movements and trade unions, holds that SFM, in the city of Moura, district of Beja, "Should be nationalized, ensuring decent jobs for workers and clean energy for the country ".
In this sense, concerns, the Government should "intervene in the case" and "nationalize the factory" for her "to produce solar panels to assemble" in public buildings, including schools.
According to campaign, currently, public buildings "are buying energy to private companies, which means that public money to serve private interests ".
However, defends, if you buy panels "affordable" to a public company, "That does not focus on profit", Public buildings, "In a few years, would become energy independent, saving energy costs ".
MFS will close "not because it does not profit, but why not make enough profit ", says the campaign, stressing that the company that owns, ACCIONA, It announced that its technology partner who ran the plant will "switch production to factories in Asia".
"In the era of climate change and the urgent need to decarbonise, energy can not only be a business for profit ", defends campaign, stressing that "abandonment" of MFS by the ACCIONA is "an opportunity to take the power of the gaming market and put it at the service of people and the planet".
Jobs calculations for Climate "show that it is possible to decarbonise the energy industry in Portugal 15 year old, creating tens of thousands of new jobs ", refers to campaign, stressing that "what is missing is political will" and "situations as the closing of the MFS serve as a test of the will of governments".
The closure was announced this month and justified by business owner, Spanish ACCIONA, the fact that the economic viability of SFM be "impossible, in a competitive market environment dominated by Chinese manufacturers ".
The creation of the MFS, which began operating in 2008, He spent several periods stop and definitely stopped producing in September 2018, was one of the construction project the counterparts of Moura Photovoltaic Power Station, in the municipality of Moura.
After purchasing the company created by the camera to build and manage the central, ACCIONA built and MFS, under an agreement with the municipality, He pledged to keep it running for 10 year old, in other words, to 2018, and over 100 workers.
A spokesman ACCIONA told Lusa that the company "met all its commitments" with the Portuguese authorities, keeping factory activity during 10 year old, "With an average of more than 100 employees "and through two technology partners, a Spanish first and second Chinese, that have managed.
However, the second partner, who ran the factory, "Announced in 10 September 2018 - seven days after the European Union has decided to eliminate tariffs on imports from China panels - that would definitely complete its activity in Moura and transfer production to factories in Asia ", He explained the spokesman.
"Over 2018", ACCIONA tried to negotiate the entry of a third partner in the management of MFS, but "without any results, given the evolution of the sector on a global scale ", and, that is why, "There was no other option but to [of the] close the plant ", which will leave 105 unemployed workers.
The Jobs Campaign for Climate, taking place in several countries, as Portugal, It seeks to combat climate change and defend the massive creation of jobs in the public sector in key sectors to reduce emissions of gases greenhouse.
