Greece has suspended three wind power projects in the country’s northeastern region of Thrace, which was devastated by a massive wildfire in 2023, following the appeal of three environmental organizations.
The Greek Ministry of the Environment and Energy has revoked the environmental licenses for three wind power projects, issued by the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia-Thrace in August 2024, after the Hellenic Ornithological Society, the Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace and WWF Greece (World Wildlife Fund) argued in their appeal that the environmental impact assessments for the wind farms were not aligned with the latest and most relevant data, as required by law. The organizations argued that the assessments failed to adequately take to consideration the environmental consequences of the devastating fire in the summer of 2023. They noted that the three wind farms are adjacent to the NATURA-Special Protection Area “Filiouri Valley.”
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is an extensive area designated under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Together with Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), SPAs form a network of protected sites across the EU called NATURA 2000.
The managing bodies of the Evros Delta National Park, one of the most important wetlands in Europe, and the National Forest Park of Dadia, which is of exceptional ecological significance in Europe (both in Thrace), issued a negative opinion on the issuing the licenses for wind projects in the area. Yet the Department of Natural Environment and Biodiversity Management of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy expressed a positive opinion on the projects and the three licenses were granted. During the 2023 fires, more than half of the Dadia National Forest was turned to ashes.
In a statement, WWF Greece called the suspension of the three licenses “a vindication for the environmental organizations trying to curb the unrestrained development of wind farms in the region of Thrace,” adding that after the catastrophic impact of the 2023 fires “the priority should be the restoration and protection of nature.”
Why wind farms in Greece are controversial
This is not the first time environmental organizations have raised serious concerns about the environmental impact and the effects on biodiversity in areas where the Greek government plans to install wind power stations. Νumerous complaints have been registered across the country regarding the construction and operation of such plants.
Renewable energy production has been rapidly growing all over the country. On Agios Georgios, a rock off the coast of Athens, 23 wind turbines have been built, enough to generate electricity to power 40,000 households in Greece. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said there are plans to build an additional 1,150 turbines on both the Greek islands and the mainland over the next 20 years.
While many Greeks see the benefits of wind power, several wind farms have been facing opposition both by locals and environmental organizations. They are concerned that wind farms can harm biodiversity and the preservation of endangered, threatened and species of special concern. Moreover, they say that when wind power stations are constructed in prominent areas of natural beauty they can spoil the landscape.
Professor Vailiki Kati, who coordinates a research lab at the University of Ioannina, has been studying the planning of wind parks and has highlighted Greece’s disregard for natural landscapes or protected areas and the negative impact wind farms can have on locals.
“In Austria, only 12 percent of wind power stations are planned in mountainous zones, in Greece it’s 92 percent. That shows the lack of spatial planning in our country,” she told Euronews during an interview.