March 24, 2017
France

Protestors petition against French windfarm

By Anne-Marie Causer | Maritime Journal | 23 Mar 2017 | www.maritimejournal.com

Protestors are up in arms about the plan to construct an offshore windfarm off the coast of Normandy in France which they say will ruin the view from the D-Day landing beaches.

EDF EN and Enbridge are developing the 450MW Eoliennes Offshore du Calvados project off the coast of Courseulles-sur-Mer. The windfarm, which has been approved for construction, will consist of 75 turbines standing 180m high at a distance of 10km from the Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beaches.

The protestors from French organisation Fédération Environnement Durable (FED), the Basse-Normandie Environment (BNE) association, the Pulse collective, the Libre Horizon association and the international NGO European Platform Against Wind Farms (EPAW), argue that the beaches have become memorials.

They are apparently working to have them recognised under UNESCO’s World Patrimony to safeguard them from any industrial development.

The windfarm project also saw saw a legal action against the authorisation for the construction and operation of the project from environmentalists back in August 2016.

It is also still subject to an appeal to the Court of Nantes, which has been submitted by regional and national associations who want to protect the environment and heritage in France’s coastal areas.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/03/24/protestors-petition-against-french-windfarm/