Moving wind turbines – avoiding drinking water source at Raggovidda – NRK Troms and Finnmark

This allows the developer Varanger Kraft Hydrogen to go ahead with plans to expand the power plant.

In a letter from 16 April, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority confirms that they are withdrawing their objection to the extension.

In autumn, the same inspectorate had major reservations about the plans. The risk of pollution from wind power was underestimated, they believed:

Hydraulic oil has leaked into nature. Wind turbines have caught fire. Chemical substances called bisphenol A, which are used in the surface treatment of the rotors, also pose a danger that is not well enough known, the letter said.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority believed that there was too high a risk of Berlevåg’s drinking water being contaminated by the wind power plant.

Moving turbines

The letter from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority was a so-called objection. This means that the decision about the power plant had to be taken up to the ministry – if no new documentation was provided or new measures taken.

That is the last thing that has happened now, says Jørn Uno Mikkelsen. He is the general manager of the developer Varanger Kraft Hydrogen.

– The objection came primarily because we had some turbines that stood in the catchment area of ​​the Løkviksdalselva, says Mikkelsen.

– After having a meeting with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and looking at the turbine layout again, we saw that it was only about moving three to four turbines. Not really that far either, just so that we got them out of the catchment area itself.

Any accident must now not cause runoff to the drinking water source.

Disadvantage for reindeer husbandry

The wind power plant at Raggovidda (Rákkočearru in Sami) has had very good wind conditions. In the industry, it is referred to as a model plant with consistent and high production.

It has already been extended once, and it is the third stage of construction that is now in its turn.

There has been hope in the local community that the power could provide an industrial adventure with very large ripple effects.

At the same time, the reindeer herders believe that the disadvantages are far greater than they could foresee.

Today they would not agree to the development, they have told NRK.

The latest expansion conflicted with the drinking water after the plans had been changed, precisely for reasons of reindeer husbandry.

In the reindeer herding district, Frode Utsi and manager Johan Magne Andersen become uneasy when NRK reports that several of the turbines are to be moved again.

– This is completely new for us, says Andersen.

But Mikkelsen believes that reindeer husbandry should not suffer any disadvantages.

– We are not moving the turbines back to their original location. There is still talk of the northern alternative, as we call it. It is really just a small adjustment to the turbine layout we presented earlier.

Waiting for power line

Although they have now clarified the relationship with the drinking water, there is a long way to go for more development at Raggovidda.

Both NVE and the municipality will process the case again. But more importantly, a new power line is required to bring the electricity to the market.

Statnett must obtain a license for a planned 420-kilovolt line up to Seidafjell in Tana before there can be more turbines. According to the plan, it should be completed sometime between 2029 and 2032. Mikkelsen does not ignore the fact that the announced power lift in Finnmark may gain momentum in the plans.

– I am guessing the earliest construction will start in 2027-2028. Something like that, maybe. But it depends on when Statnett gets a license on that line.