State-owned energy supplier SPP recently announced plans to build two wind park projects, suggesting Slovakia is reconsidering investing in wind parks as, amid the ongoing energy crisis, activist obstruction and long environmental processes are no longer much of a deterrent.
In Slovakia, the construction of wind turbines has long been met with harsh resistance, with opponents arguing that they disrupt the natural landscape and that their supply is uneven. The energy crisis and the ensuing drive to drop Russian energy dependence are causing a change in attitude.
For example, SPP recently announced the construction of the first big wind park to be built in western Slovakia near the city of Piešťany, with a capacity of 50 megawatts and a cost of €63 million.
SPP announced another wind farm project in the Záhorie region near the Czech and Austrian borders, though citizens have started planning blockades and protests after the announcement.
“The plans of SPP to build wind turbines near our village is still only a planned intention. No consent or promise has been given by the municipality to anyone,” the Mayor of Radošovce, Iveta Matúšová, reassured her fellow citizens via the regional website.
For the big wind park project, SPP announced it has already received the informal approval of nearby villages.
Based on predictions that Slovakia is to have wind parks with a total minimum capacity of 500 megawatts by 2030 so that it can meet its targets, several private investors are also looking into investing more in wind power plants.
(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)
Source: euractiv.com
