Europe’s Largest Wind Farm Project Upsets Swedish Natives
Image Source: Flickr. By: Caveman 92223 — On the 2010 US Tour.
Sweden is sure making some interesting headlines this week when it comes to energy sources. First, there was the issue of the Greenpeace protest at a nuclear power plant. Now, however, I’m happy to report somewhat better news.
This Scandinavian nation plans to build Europe’s largest wind park, which will contain 1,101 wind turbines. The Markbygden farm will cover an area more than 310 miles (500 square km) in size (or 5 times the size of Paris). How did they manage to swing such a project? It turns out most of the land is practically uninhibited.
The project is headed by Svevind, a client of German wind power giant Enercon. Project leader, Wolfgang Kropp, commented that:
“If I were to try the same thing in Germany, it would take me 20 years to get everyone’s agreement.” … “For the same area, you would have 10,000 land owners. Here, there are 3. That’s why we came here to Sweden in search of a good location. In the south of the country, it is very difficult. There are farms and vacation homes. Here in the north, there is no one.”
The project is expected to be completed by 2022 and the turbines should be able to produce energy equivalent to that of 2 nuclear reactors. Although there are very few land owners in the area and many view the project as a new source of income, not everyone is happy about the project, particularly the native Samis.
The Sami people are known for their semi-nomadic reindeer herding and they believe the new wind park will severely impact and damage traditional reindeer grazing areas. They were offered a compensation package of 5,000 kronor ($ 630) per turbine per year, or more than 5 million kronor per year after the entire park is built. However, they refused the offer, with local council head, Anders Ruth, stating “the amount does not correspond to the problems that this will cause and the threat it poses to our herds”.
Personally, I can’t really blame the Samis for being upset about the situation. They’ve already suffered damage from other industries in the area; not to mention that according to Ruth, almost 25% of their local grazing areas will be affected by the park. Unfortunately for them, Svevind refuses to back down.
The company claims they understand the concerns of the Samis, but they add there is no better location for the park. Executive, Mikael Kyrk, also said:
“It’s true, the paper industry has already taken their forests, the dams have already taken their rivers, the mines have taken what’s underground, and now it’s the wind turbine, but…that’s the way development works.”
While I support renewable energy (such as wind), I certainly sympathize with the Sami people. It’s a rather tough situation to be in and it would seem that it’s already following a pattern (remember the tortoises vs. solar energy from last year?). I suppose when it comes to going green and helping the environment, we really need to figure out what’s more important or else a better form of compromise.
Do you have any ideas?
By Heidi Marshall
I have been with GreenFudge for about a year now, but I've had a passion for Nature my entire life. When I'm not writing articles, you can find me out hiking, gardening, working on green craft projects, or taking photos for my website. You can check out the site at http://arkisaeo.com
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Tags: Enercon, Europe, grazing, largest wind farm, Markbygden, project, reindeer, renewable energy, Sami people, Samis, Svevind, Sweden, upset, wind energy, wind farm, wind park
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