For almost a week, several people, together with the youth organization of the Norwegian Samirs Riksforbund (NSR) and Nature and Youth, have campaigned against the wind turbines at Fosen in Trøndelag. On 11 October 2021, the Supreme Court concluded that the development of wind power in two facilities at Fosen in Trøndelag conflicts with the rights of indigenous peoples. This applies to those at Storheia and Roan. Nevertheless, the 115 wind turbines at Norway’s largest wind power plant are still spinning. – The wind turbines on Fosen must be demolished, and the land must be returned to the Fosen communities, demand the activists who on Friday morning lift the blockade of the ministry. But demolishing the turbines is a completely irrelevant issue, says lawyer in contract law and administrative law, Thomas Benson. Fosen demonstrators in Oslo, Thursday 2 March. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB – Not going to happen – It is not a wish that the wind turbines should be demolished. It is rather important to think the opposite and try to come up with a solution that secures the rights of indigenous people, says Benson. He says it would have cost a lot of money to tear down the turbines. Then a new license must also be applied for, in order to possibly have them brought up elsewhere. – It is very time-consuming, so I don’t think that will happen. Benson also mentions that it is a major intervention that has already been made in nature and there was an extreme cost associated with building them. – It is important that these wind turbines take into account the energy access to Norway, he says, and believes that the review will weigh more heavily. Photo: Petter Strøm / news – But it is very regrettable that people have not taken care of their common interests and seen this perspective to a much greater extent. – It will cost one to two million to remove each wind turbine. Oslo Economics and Sweco have calculated how much it will cost to demolish the rubies on Storheia. They did this on behalf of NVE last year. Not because the state had lost in the Supreme Court, but because NVE wanted a knowledge base to be able to make demands and assess the costs of shutting down wind power plants, writes Teknisk Ukeblad. According to the consultants, demolition and reinstatement will cost approximately NOK 1 or 2 million per turbine, depending on the degree of reinstatement of the area. The report states that the landscape on Storheia is typical for the wind power plant on the Fosen Peninsula. If the same price estimates are used as a basis for the Roan wind power plant, it will cost 71-142 million to remove the 71 turbines that are there, according to TU. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Will consider mitigating measures On Friday, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had invited reindeer herders from Fosen to a breakfast meeting. After the meeting, Støre asked to be believed that the government has worked with the judgment since he arrived – and that they have worked to ensure that international law obligations are followed. – It is a violation of human rights and we cannot live with that, said the Prime Minister. Reindeer owners were invited to breakfast with Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Friday. Photo: Inga Maret Solberg / news The judgment states that the license for the two wind farms is invalid without mitigating measures. – That is what we now have to keep an eye on, if we can find them. I have said that I do not rule out any measures in that context, says Støre. Mitigation measures exist to reduce, compensate or remove unwanted effects of interventions in nature. Statkraft’s press contact Geir Fuglseth says that a concrete mitigation measure could be, for example, to offer alternative grazing areas. But exactly what it will be, the process carried out under the auspices of the OED and in dialogue with the reindeer herders will answer. – We are working to find solutions. But demolishing the turbines, says Fuglseth, is not a current issue for them now. – The biggest general mistake in this case. Lawyer Benson says the biggest mistake in this case was giving permission for the construction of the wind power plant before the final decision in the Supreme Court was ready. – That is the biggest general mistake in this case. – If the wind power plant is not to be demolished, what could be the solution then? – It can be solved in several different ways. One way is to pay a compensation sum, which is the main rule for expropriation. Another way is to find less intrusive arrangements. – It may be that some of these wind turbines are partially removed, to facilitate winter grazing. He believes the solution can have several aspects and says it is important to think about the future. – One can agree that in these cases which concern human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights, the state should not grant prior permission, says Benson. He adds that there should also be conditions on how such cases should be handled in the future, so that these mistakes are not made again.
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Lawyer calls demolition of wind turbines at Fosen an irrelevant issue – news Nordland
