Rastigaisa fell area must not be turned into an industrial area ‒ St1’s Davvi wind power plant faces Nordic opposition across borders
Áslat Holmberg. Photo: Kukka Ranta
The Saami Council opposes a wind power plant that is being planned to the Rastigaisa fell area in the Lebesby municipality in Northern Norway. Rastigaisa is a Sámi sacred fell, and the Rastigaisa area is an immensely important area in terms of nature, culture and Sámi traditional livelihoods. Windpower, service road infrastructure and new power lines are not compatible with the area that is one of Europe’s last unbuilt great fell areas.
– The indigenous people Sámi have to carry a double burden as a result of climate change. The effects of climate change are the most severe in the Arctic area and they threaten the Sámi culture and traditional livelihoods. Now our traditional lands are facing huge renewable energy projects. That is unreasonable, says Vice President of Saami Council Áslat Holmberg.
Huge wind power plant is part of a Power-to-X project in Kemi, Finland
Finnish company St1 and Norwegian companies Vindkraft Nord AS ja Ny Energi AS own a company called Grenselandet AS that is planning a large 800 MW wind power plant called “Davvi” with 100‒267 windmills in the Rastigaisa area. This industrial windpower development would require an area equal to 8 000 football fields or 63 square kilometres and over 100 kilometres or service road networks.
Little attention has been paid to the fact that the Davvi wind power plant is part of St1’s Power-to-X or hydrogen industrial plans in Kemi, Finland. St1 is planning to build a refinery which produces synthetic fuels from CO2 emissions of a pulp mill and windpower from the Davvi wind power plant. The project requires the building of new infrastructure, ie. a new powerline from Norway to Finland via the Sámi reindeer-herding cooperatives Galdoaivi ja Báišduottar. The powerline is included in the Lapland regional land use plan 2040.
Rastigaisa is one of Europe’s last unbuilt great fell areas
The wind power plant, road network and power lines would have a very large negative impact on the Rastigaisa area in terms of nature, culture and Sámi traditional livelihoods. The building on a windfarm, roads and powerlines would violate the ILO convention No 169 on indigenous peoples’ rights and the article 27 of the UN international covenant on civil and political rights.
The Saami Council is especially concerned about windpower projects because previously in 2018 the state of Norway did not comply with the decision of the UN Committee on the elimination of racial discrimination (CERD) to stop the building of a windpower project in the South Sámi Fovsen-Njaarke reindeer-herding area.
A representative of St1 has publicly stated that the Rastigaisa area is poor in terms of the number of natural species. This is a wrong approach because the number of species is not the only or the most important indicator. In reality there are over 200 plant species in the Rastigaisa area (including a near threatened species Dryas octopetala) that are specialised in the icy and windy conditions of the fells, and depends on the lingering snow areas there. The Rastigaisa area is important among others to the endagenered arctic fox and to the lesser white-fronted goose. This is one of the last unbuilt great fell areas in Europe and it is invaluable for the recreational use of nature.
– According to WWF experts, the high fell areas are inherently less species-rich than more southern areas but they are invaluable specifically for fell plant species threatened by climate change, Holmberg says.
“The Davvi wind power plant and related industrial projects would jeopardize the future of reindeer-herding, Sámi culture and Sámi language in the Rastigaisa area because the net jobs are expected to decline at the expense of existing jobs in reindeer herding”
A sacred fell and an essential area for reindeer-herding
Rastigaisa is a sacred Sámi fell and there are old Sámi places of sacrifice and cultural relics in the area. According to the experts at the Sámi Museum Siida, archeological inventories in highlands are insufficient and more inventories are needed.
The Rastigaisa area has been used for reindeer-herding and in terms of the natural resources since the time immemorial. The Rastigaisa area is especially significant for Sámi reindeer-herding communities. Reindeer-herding offers sustainable and long-term jobs that carry the Sámi language and culture. Building a wind power plant and the supporting infrastructure would narrow and fragment reindeer grazing lands and cut the passages that are essential for the annual reindeer migration patterns. According to research, windpower has a negative impact on reindeer and reindeer-herding because reindeer are afraid of the flashing lights, shadow rolls and audible sound, and when they see a row of windmills, they turn away even ten kilometers away. This causes a lot of extra work and expenses to reindeer-herders and has a negative impact on their mental health.
– The Davvi wind power plant and related industrial projects would jeopardize the future of reindeer-herding, Sámi culture and Sámi language in the Rastigaisa area because the net jobs are expected to decline at the expense of existing jobs in reindeer herding, Holmberg says.
Widespread opposition at the Nordic level across borders
St1 has publicly downplayed the widespread opposition to the Davvi wind power plant project. In reality, the Davvi wind power plant project faces widespread opposition at the Nordic level across borders. The project is opposed by the Saami Council, the Sámi Parliaments in Norway and Finland, and the reindeer-herding communities in the area. The Davvi wind power plant project is opposed also by the Tana and Karasjok municipalities in Norway, the Utsjoki municipality in Finland, several local associations, nature conservation associations, companies, land owners and tens of private persons in Norway and Finland according to the documentation of the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate NVE.
– The Davvi wind power plant project would have significant impact especially on the reindeer-herding district number 13, which opposes the Davvi project and has not accepted the 12 million euros offered to it in exchange of the consent to the wind power plant. The way that St1 downplays the opposition is deliberate misrepresentation, Holmberg reminds.
The Norwegian Parliament (Storting) will debate a white paper on windpower licensing reform on December 1st, 2020. The wind power plant and powerline permit applications by Grenselander AS are being assessed by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate NVE.
