Lucrative wind power plans put the mayor in an 'infernal dilemma'

Hydro, Eviny and Zephyr are teaming up to sort out a wind energy project in the mountainous region between Høyanger and Sunnfjord.

The planned investment is NOK 3-4 billion, with a total energy production of 1 TWh.

This corresponds to the electricity consumption of about 60,000 households.

– By developing energy at a competitive price, we are securing today’s industrial workplaces while facilitating the production of climate-friendly aluminium, says Hydro Aluminum’s head of primary production, Ola Sæter.

He says that onshore wind power is a prerequisite for securing sufficient power for the Huang’er aluminum plant after 2030. According to Statnett Regulations Norway is heading towards an energy deficit from 2027.

– The goal is to decarbonize all aluminum works in Norway. Sæter says access to renewable energy is a prerequisite for this

Today, a quarter of hydroelectric power use comes from wind power.

– We look forward to dialogue with the host municipalities. Olaf Osfull, executive director of Fornybar in Eviny, says local support is crucial to the project’s realization.

– I want I got into an infernal mess

In September, the mayor of Høyanger, Petter Sortland (Ap), announced that he would come “In Hell’s Divide” If Hydro lures a large enough investment for a wind farm in the mountains.

Høyanger’s aluminum plant is not only a “core company” and most important place to work, but also the cultural and economic center around which everything revolves.

– He added that there would be insane pressure and enormous dilemma Bergens Tidende.

The former Labor mayor has been a vocal opponent of wind energy.

Faced with new plans, he speaks more cautiously.

– Here I have to go into square thinking. This is obviously a different thing than if there was a wind energy developer with a postal address in the Cayman Islands. Plus, I get so upset that I think Hydro when they say they need that energy.

– Does the radical young man become more pragmatic with age?

– I have to be honest to admit that. Moreover, much has been done to fulfill the host municipalities since the establishment of the National Wind Energy Framework scrap.

after the dispute development map (see below), and mass protests Burn Cairn Against wind energy, there was a political consensus to “put one foot on the ground” in 2019.

But this spring, Prime Minister Jonas Gehr Storr (AP) announced that We want more wind turbines of the country, and that this would be politically possible under “more inclusive processes” and greater local participation.

– I like to believe that a tall country like Norway has enough nature to do this in a nice way, And therefore It’s for NRK.

But opponents of wind turbine plans will not be so kind.

– We will influence as best we can. We are very concerned that local politicians in both Høyanger and Sunnfjord hear what resonates so strongly with the population. – You don’t want wind power, says Marino Ask, president of Let Nature Live.

– We see negative results in the municipalities of Keene, Premanger, Fjallir and others.

– sDamage takes place behind closed doors

The main lines of the new licensing system are that there should be more local influence, and that municipalities should process applications through it Planning and building law (Not Energilova, as before).

The new licensing system was supposed to be ready this fall, but it has been delayed.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (OED) has notified this suggestion To include wind energy in the Planning and Building Code before Christmas.

Moreover, add the European Commission’s plan to increase the share of renewables from 40 to 45 percent (“Repower the EU”) until widespread changes in the licensing process for solar and wind power. Norway will be covered by these rules as a result of the European Economic Area Agreement.

– With current regulations, much of the impact on wind energy takes place behind closed doors without public access or participation, he says Siren Skråmestø Juliussen, Nature Conservancy Officer at the Norwegian Tourism Association.

The DNT criticizes the fact that in May the government came up with new recommendations for the franchise system “without fixing the underlying problem”.

– We are very concerned that the Ministry and the NVE plan to use an incomplete set of regulations to develop wind power on land, while we await changes in law and regulations.