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Wind Power News: Russia
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.
Reindeer: ancient migration routes disrupted by roads, dams – and now wind farms
Reindeer, or caribou as they’re known in North America, are impressive travellers. Herds made up of many thousands of animals can cover 5,000km each year in the far north of Europe, Siberia and Canada. This is one of the longest land migrations on Earth – but an ongoing transformation of the Arctic landscape threatens to break it up. Roads, railways, mines and dams have disrupted the well-worn trails that reindeer follow each year, particularly across northern Europe. In one study, . . . Complete story »
Sami women, indigenous reindeer herders, are fighting for their ancestral lands
In northern Europe, where winter temperatures hover between -13 and -22 degrees Fahrenheit, reindeer roam an ancient pine forest that’s blanketed by snow. That might sound like a fantastical scene from a snow globe, but for the Sámi people, the Indigenous inhabitants of Arctic Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia, this is home. The expansive region, known as Sápmi, is their ancestral land—and herding reindeer there has been a form of survival for them since the prehistoric . . . Complete story »
Arctic turbulence: why Indigenous communities are fighting wind farms
The Arctic is experiencing climate change at a faster pace than the rest of the world. Having already had to adapt, the Indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, Finland and north-western Russia – the Saami – now face a new threat to their existence as industrial wind farms are constructed on their ancestral lands to supply the western world’s growing demand for green energy. Speaking at a panel on Indigenous self-governance in 2018, Aili Keskitalo, the president of the Saami Parliament . . . Complete story »
Wind energy conflicts show how Arctic renewable energy projects can founder
At its essence, the Sámi position when it comes to renewable energy in the form of wind turbines and hydroelectric is simple: Herders don’t want their reindeer-herding disrupted by human-made hindrances. Infrastructure such as railways, roads, dams and wind farms all pose problems for herders in one way or another. In the case of wind farms, the problem is twofold: First, their placement can disrupt migration routes, either forcing reindeer and their herders to find a new path between winter . . . Complete story »
Stop romanticizing Arctic development, say indigenous leaders
The installation of renewable energy like wind turbine farms is wreaking havoc across Sapmi, the traditional Saami homeland that stretches from Arctic Norway through Sweden and Finland and into northwestern Russia. In Sweden and in Norway these windfarms have destroyed traditional reindeer grazing lands and caused mental and financial issues for the Saami that rely on the animals to make a living. Even today, companies like Fred. Olsen Renewables are planning 72 wind turbines in important grazing and calving lands for the Norwegian reindeer herding districts of Åarjel-Njaarke and Voengelh Njaarke. Despite Saami opposition, the project has been approved by authorities. Complete story »
Russia considers turbine part import ban in sanction response
The Russian government is considering imposing a ban on the import of machinery parts including wind power equipment from the European Union and the United States, in a response to sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries. Russian government is reacting to sanctions imposed by the EU and US Russian government is reacting to sanctions imposed by the EU and US As part of these plans, the government intends to tighten conditions for localisation of wind power equipment, which were . . . Complete story »
Russia finally makes plans to boost wind
The Russian government has finally designed its long-awaited package of measures aimed at stimulating the growth of a domestic wind industry. At the heart of the plans is increased wind power investment driven by electricity supply contracts. The right to enter into such agreements will be awarded to projects on a competitive basis. Local content requirements, which set the level of turbine components to be supplied locally, are also part of the plans, requiring 25% by 2016 and 50% by . . . Complete story »
Ambitious wind farm plan unveiled
A scheme to build massive wind farms in Russia’s Arctic northwest and sell the resulting electricity to Europe could kick-start the country’s renewable energy industry. The plan, dubbed RUSTEC, would see dozens of onshore wind farms built across the Murmansk region and plugged into a “power bridge” carrying the energy into the European grid via Norway or Finland. It is the brainchild of the International Finance Organization, the branch of the World Bank Group that provides private sector financing for . . . Complete story »
“Green power” in Kurgan
The Kurgan region in the South Urals the will be the first in Russia to generate “green power”. Work is already under way to build a 50-megawatt wind park here. It will be the region’s first alternative energy source. Climate is a key decisive factor in such projects. The preliminary measurements confirmed that the local wind resources were stable and strong enough to make wind power generation efficient. Yaroslav Sigidov is the project’s General Director, and this is what he . . . Complete story »
Russia’s Putin says wind turbines kill birds
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday that wind power can pose environmental risks, casting doubts over plans to develop this alternative energy source in the oil-rich country. Putin, who has overseen all major energy deals Russia made in recent years, is keen for the country to maintain its role as a major oil and gas producer. He has repeatedly expressed his skepticism about alternative energy. “Windmills, which are so widespread in many European countries seem to be an . . . Complete story »
