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Wind Power News: Asia
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Israel postpones work on Golan wind farm over Druze objections
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed work on a Golan Heights wind farm a second time over Druze objections to the project. The ARAN Clean Wind Energy project will involve 21 wind turbines that are expected to produce 104 megawatts of electricity, to supply 50,000 households for 20 years, at an estimated cost of NIS 700 million. Construction on the project was delayed until August 1 in response to violent protests by Druze residents in the area last month . . . Complete story »
Druze community urges Netanyahu to review Golan wind turbine project, alleging fraud
Leaders of the Druze community in the Golan Heights sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday requesting a freeze on a controversial plan to construct dozens of wind turbines on farmland in the area. The lengthy 43-page letter, sent by lawyer Nasser Kais on behalf of Druze landowners and residents of the Golan region, outlines “failures in the approval process of the turbines by the competent authorities,” according to a report by the Haaretz news site. The newly . . . Complete story »
Druze leader: Golan wind turbine project must stop or face unprecedented response
The head of the Druze community in Israel, Sheikh Muafak Tarif, has warned the government to stop the work to construct wind turbines in the Golan Heights, or face “a reaction the country has hitherto not seen.” He called on the prime minister to seek an arrangement that would be acceptable to Druze residents. Tarif spoke Friday in an emergency meeting in Kfar Yasif. According to Haaretz, some 2,000 people took part in the gathering against the turbine project that . . . Complete story »
Ben-Gvir and Druze leaders release contradictory statements after supposed wind turbine agreement
Druze community leaders claimed after the meeting that the turbines would stop immediately while Ben-Gvir said that they will stop just on the Eid al-Adha holiday. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Thursday that he and the leaders of the Druze community have agreed that construction of wind turbines in the Golan Heights will temporarily halt during the Eid al-Adha holiday. Energix, who is working on building the turbines, also claimed that work would resume Friday morning until the . . . Complete story »
Ben Gvir overrules police on freezing wind farm project, despite riots – reports
Construction work continued on a contentious wind farm on Thursday, after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly overruled Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, who wanted to freeze work on the project following protests and rioting from Druze residents of the Golan Heights. According to a number of reports, police initially ordered the work on the wind turbines to be stopped in the wake of the protests, before reversing that decision and allowing the work to continue. The Israel Police . . . Complete story »
Druze protesters clash with police in Golan Heights over wind turbine construction
Clashes erupted in the Golan Heights on Tuesday between hundreds of Druze protesters and police officers because residents oppose the construction wind turbines in the area. The protesters blocked agricultural roads and burned mattresses. Police used crowd-control equipment, including water cannons. Three protesters suffered mild injuries from inhaling smoke or tear gas and were taken to a local clinic for treatment. Three police officers were injured in the clashes with protesters. Two were taken to Ziv Medical Center in Safed . . . Complete story »
Sojitz cancels Hokkaido wind project on costs, local objections
Japanese trading company Sojitz Corp. canceled its plan to build a wind power plant in Hokkaido, amid soaring material costs and growing local criticism about the environmental impact of the project. “After re-examining the business plan from various perspectives, including the recent sharp rise in material prices, we have concluded that this project does not meet Sojitz’s investment criteria,” the company in a statement on Saturday. The decision adds to a recent trend of wind project cancellations, likely creating a . . . Complete story »
Central panel seeks report on violations by windmill firm in Karnataka’s Chitradurga
Over the last 5 years several studies have highlighted the threat posed by wind mills to bird population. Amid calls for better regulation of windmills, the Forest Advisory Committee of the Union environment ministry has asked the state government for details of violations in the operation of a windmill on 550 acres in Chitradurga district. The committee was looking into a proposal by the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) which sought to extend the diversion of 548 acres of . . . Complete story »
Wind farms lead to ‘significant’ decrease in soil moisture, study finds
A new study has found that wind farms can have a “significant” impact on soil moisture, and aggravate the soil drying in grassland areas, with impacts on ecosystems. The research, published in peer-reviewed journal, Science of the Total Environment, found that “wind farms significantly reduced soil moisture within the wind farms and in the upwind and downwind directions.” The study focused on wind farms located in the grasslands of China, and researchers “analyzed changes in soil moisture in different wind . . . Complete story »
Copper mine flashes warning of ‘huge crisis’ for world supply
Accompanied by tinny taped music and overall-clad workers, Rio Tinto Group executives and Mongolian officials gathered a kilometer beneath the freezing Gobi Desert earlier this year to open one of the world’s richest underground copper mines. It was a celebration four decades in the making. Oyu Tolgoi, in southern Mongolia just north of the Chinese border, is key to Rio’s efforts to move beyond its dependence on iron ore and expand in copper, the metal that underpins the clean energy . . . Complete story »