December 31, 2010
Sweden

Wind power and reindeers struggle to coexist

Author: Johan Nylander, The Swedish Wire, www.swedishwire.com 31 December 2010

During 2010 Sweden produced one third more wind power than the year before, according to new figures from the Scandinavian country’s energy authorities.

A total of 289 new turbines helped produce 2,000 megawatts, Swedish Radio said. Most of the turbines are located in Skåne, a southern Swedish province.

However, more and more Skåne residents protest against wind power and say that the turbines are spinning too close to their homes. And in the most northern parts of the country reindeer and wind power industries are struggling to coexist.

Some 1,101 new wind turbines will be built in the Sámi reindeer herding community in Lappland. That would entail the loss of 25 percent of the grazing lands. Wind power is seen as a considerable threat to the reindeer industry in Scandinavia.

“What do I say to my 15-year-old son?” reindeer herder Patrik Lundgren told Swedish Sámi Radio. “His greatest wish is to begin herding reindeer. Do I tell him that it’s just as well he forgets his plans? I wonder if the wind power industry feels any responsibility for these kinds of extreme consequences.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/12/31/wind-power-and-reindeers-struggle-to-coexist/