Norway’s highest court has ruled that more than 150 new wind farms are illegal

Sami organizations recently demonstrated in the lobby of the Norwegian Ministry of Oil and Energy. Sami demands the wind farms be demolished. Norway’s highest court has ruled that the power station complex on the Fössen peninsula near Trondheim is illegal and violates human rights.

A wind farm with 151 wind turbines near Trondheim in Norway is still producing electricity, even though the wind turbines were ruled illegal more than 500 days ago.

Norway’s Supreme Court ruled on October 11, 2021 that Complex 151 Wind Turbines, one of the largest wind turbines in Europe, is illegal. It is located on the Füssen Peninsula in the Sami regions.

took over

On Thursday, February 23, 500 days have passed since the Supreme Court’s decision. For this reason, Sami organizations have commandeered the entrance to the Norwegian Ministry of Oil and Energy and have been demonstrating there for more than a day.

Soma Sami Nuorat (Finnish Sami Youth), Norski Summers Rexvorbund (NSR) and NSR Nuorat are involved in the takeover of the ministry.

It is unfortunate that we go to such measures to highlight the ongoing violations of human rights in Norway. In its statement, NSR said that 500 days have passed since the verdict, but the Norwegian state turns a blind eye and allows the turbines to spin, ignoring the Supreme Court.

“Breach of international conventions”

According to Norway’s highest court, permits to build and operate turbines are not valid because they violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The court ruling did not mention what should be done with the power plants.

Even at the planning stage for wind farms, the Sami people said that wind turbines prevented reindeer husbandry in the area.

State-owned Statskraft, the main owner of the wind farms, had already applied for a “re-evaluation” of the building permit in 2021, Reuters reports.

“Move them to another location”

In theory, it would be possible to dismantle the turbines and move them to another location. According to manufacturer Vestas, wind turbines are 85 percent recyclable.

The largest wind farm in Fosen is Storeheia. It has 80 turbines generating 288 megawatts of electricity.

Source: Reuters