While the forest industry has been fighting with environmental organizations for years about how thick trees must be before they can be cut doown in the forest, how well clearcuts and beautiful young stands must be cleaned up, the Cabinet of Ministers has actually allowed a forest to be removed – replacing trees with wind turbines. Industrial construction is now allowed in the forests, which will radically change the Latvian landscape.
Until now, the efforts of the wind business and mandatory procurement component (OIK) crooks to expand have been hampered by the population's resistance to the installation of wind turbines near settlements and agricultural land. Both because they are convinced of the harmful effects of turbines on health and because modern turbines are extremely large and pollute the landscape. In turn, construction in forests has so far been prohibited. Just now the Cabinet of Ministers has given the green light to industrial construction of forests, making the necessary amendments to the General Regulations for Planning, Use and Construction of the Territory for the pseudo-green wind business.
The significant change is as follows:
“50. Point 161 to read as follows:
“161. Wind power plants with a capacity of more than 20 kW may be located in an industrial building area (R), a technical building area (TA), an agricultural area (L) and a forest area (M) in accordance with the conditions of the spatial plan. ""
What does a wind station in a forest mean? This was explained to Neatkarīgā by an energy expert, physicist Visvaldis Grāveris. He also helps the opponents of wind energy in West Kurzeme with his consultations. Neatkarīgā has already reported that there are currently 8 wind farms with a total of 168 power plants on the outskirts of Ventspils at various stages of research, coordination and construction. Up to 250 meters high, and some of them are planned to be located in private or public forests. To lay down one such giant, 2.5 hectares of forest have to be cut down, not counting the construction of a driveway. For the base of the column, the soil must be removed, concrete must be poured in its place. About 2000 cubic meters. This will definitely be an environmental problem, because with the installation of each wind turbine, the trees in the forest will be replaced by concrete, metal, various synthetic fibers and a few more barrels of transmission oil, which is an additional risk in case of generator ignition.
Visvaldis Grāveris himself is a supporter of nuclear energy. This is the most modern and efficient way of obtaining energy, and it is unfortunate that the Baltic States could not agree on a joint nuclear power plant project. But now the emphasis is on wind energy - it is a return to the age of sailing ships. Wind energy will always be variable. It cannot be turned on when needed and cannot be turned off when not needed. And it will always be more expensive than basic energy sources - coal, oil, gas and nuclear energy. In the recent British experience, it is absurd that wind farm owners have been paid more than the usual mandatory procurement arrangements so as not to overload the national electricity grid and to stop production in especially windy weather.
By developing a large number of alternative energy sources, Latvia also risks falling into a similar problem - expensive and unreliable electricity.
In addition, the harmful OIK scheme is already forcing Latvians to overpay billions for pseudo-green electricity.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development sees only the positive in replacing trees with wind turbines:
“Reducing restrictions on the use of wind power plants will promote the use of non-emission renewable energy technologies in electricity generation, reduction of energy dependence and modernization of infrastructure, which are important aspects to ensure efficient use of local resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in energy, thus moving Latvia to our goals - climate-neutral Latvia in 2050.”
The Ministry emphasizes that the views of environmental experts and ornithologists have been taken into account in supporting the construction of wind farms in the forest area, but does not emphasize that it is itself a source of income for these experts and ornithologists. From this point of view, their tacit consent to flooding the forest with concrete is natural.