April 18, 2017
Greece

Holiday islands protest against wind park plans

Neos Kosmos | 18 April 2017 | neoskosmos.com

The Greek state’s plans to create wind parks on four Greek holiday islands to assist in providing power for the mainland are now facing opposition.

The wind parks, which are said to have a capacity of 316.7 megawatts, are perceived as unnecessary and dismissed as an eyesore for locals and tourists alike.

“This is a huge project that will destroy our island’s landscape and irreparably damage tourism,” Paros Mayor, Markos Kovaios said.

He said the island is already producing enough power to cover its needs.

“It transforms a tourist island into a power plant. Is this something we want?”

Mr Kovaios is looking to take up his concerns directly with Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis in a meeting, with demands the plans for two wind parks on Paros, consisting of 22 turbines in total, be withdrawn.

The mayor of Paros together with representatives of the three other islands, have filed a complaint with Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State.

However, the head of the Hellenic Wind Energy Association, Yiannis Tsipouridis has dismissed their reactions as ignorance attributed to “misinformation”, reports Kathimerini.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2017/04/18/holiday-islands-protest-against-wind-park-plans/