[Steve Dudley]

In the Lesbos 2012 thread I've been posting about the proposed 'mega' wind farms on the west of Lesvos (see post 34 here). These are part of a wider project connecting Lesvos, Chios and Lemnos and then cabling back the electricity generated from these three islands back to mainland Greece.

In short, 95% (thats 140) of the proposed turbines will be constructed within a Natura 2000 Special Protected Area and will also impact on the Geopark status of the Petrified Forest Park (a designated national monument). With 100km of new roads needed to build and link the farms, the construction impact on the fragile phrygena scrub habitat of western Lesvos will be massive, and with it so will the impact on the breeding populations of many birds including around 50% of the European population of Cinereous Bunting (Lesvos holds c.98% of Europe's population). Such a strongly opposed project from the international birding community also threatens the massive input (est. over €3m per annum) to the local economy if such developments causes a decline in ecotourism.

The deadline to voice opposition to these proposals is 20 July.

For more information see the following -

My original post on this in the Lesbos 2012 thread (#150) - see here
My most recent post and advice on this in the Lesbos 2012 thread (#39) - see here
My letter of opposition - see here

Thank you for your time and support.

[Irish Kite]

The scale and potential devastating impact of this project is indeed shocking - nowhere appears to be safe from energy sprawl relating to these wind turbines. How they can still be described as providing "green energy" is beyond me


btw - Who is financing this project??

[MJB]

Originally Posted by Irish Kite

The scale and potential devastating impact of this project is indeed shocking - nowhere appears to be safe from energy sprawl relating to these wind turbines. How they can still be described as providing "green energy" is beyond me btw - Who is financing this project??

Although it pains me to agree wholeheartedly with Irish Kite, I can't fault his comments. It's pretty certain that the Greek government has other concerns at present, and so it seems very much a private venture that has had no public oversight of its plans or intentions. Certainly there has been no independent appraisal of any large-scale proposal, nor any environmental impact statement as required by states that have full EU membership...

Considering that the rate of construction projects going bust in Southern Europe is at an all-time high, perhaps the economic crisis will put paid to this one for the time being.
MJB

[Robin Edwards]

Originally Posted by Irish Kite

btw - Who is financing this project??

And I'm inclined to ask, who gains the most from the project in terms of financial incentives?? It won't be the resdients of the islands that's for sure.

[Steve Dudley]

Originally Posted by Robin Edwards

And I'm inclined to ask, who gains the most from the project in terms of financial incentives?? It won't be the resdients of the islands that's for sure.

As far as I know its being privately financed by the company themselves (Rokas Renewables, part of the Iberdrola Renewables group). They are reportedly paying the Greek authorities €3.7m for allowing them to build the wind farms. Compare that to an estimated €3m+ per annum that the local Lesvos communities benefit from ecotourism. Can they afford to gamble that annual income for a short-term injection?