How to co-participate in the public consultation

Press release by Dynamo Kythira

Collection of signatures for OBJECTION FORM D11 against the installation of project:

“Complex of three (3) Wind Farms with total installed capacity of 135MW and maximum output capacity of 131.42MW at locations ‘KARVOUNOLAKKOS – FINIKIES’ (31.5 MW), ‘KORDELIDES’ (51.96 MW) & ‘XEROKAMPIA’ (47.9MW)”

Following the conviction of the Hellenic Republic by the European Court, the Ministry of Environment and Energy proceeded with developing Special Environmental Studies for the NATURA 2000 network areas of the country. On 28-8-2023, the Special Environmental Study (SES) concerning the protected areas of the Natura 2000 network in the Attica Region was put to public consultation on the Ministry of Environment’s website, titled:

SES 7a: Group of areas of Regional Units of North Sector, West Sector, Central Sector, South Sector, Piraeus, Islands, East Attica and West Attica.

The public consultation lasted until 28-9-2023 and was subsequently extended until 20-10-2023.

According to the study, the geographical position of Kythera in SW Greece, at the southernmost tip of the Balkan peninsula, constitutes a very important “migratory bottleneck” in the central-eastern Mediterranean for millions of birds that make their annual migration during spring months from their wintering grounds in the African Continent to Eurasia and vice versa during autumn. Energy production from industrial wind farms should be prohibited in the NATURA 2000 network areas of the island (and throughout the entire island according to the researchers) as it is completely incompatible with its environmental value and poses a very great threat to the protected subject.

The main and accompanying works required for the installation and operation of the three industrial wind farms are:

1) The formation of areas on the platforms for erecting the wind turbines and foundations for the installation of 30 wind turbines with nominal power each, with rotor diameter of 136m and pylons of 82m height
2) Road construction works concerning access roads and internal communication roads for the installation of wind turbines and operation of the three industrial wind farms. The total length of these works is 32,876.42m
3) Construction of control buildings, one for each Wind Farm with building area of approximately 50sqm on an area of 5-6 acres
4) Control and communication system for the wind turbines
5) Electrical interconnection works with the existing high voltage distribution network (150KV) including underground lines from the control buildings to the new MV/150KV substation at XEROKAMPIA location, new medium voltage MV/150KV substation and new 150KV transmission line (underground, submarine and overhead) with the Greek Electricity Transmission System
Beyond the fact that the project is located for the most part within a NATURE PROTECTION ZONE (ZPF) where according to the Special Environmental Study wind farm activity is excluded, there are numerous individual homes within Wind Farm polygons, the beach where loading/unloading takes place has been declared by ministerial decision as an UNTRODDEN BEACH, the correct distances from the island’s road network and from tourist accommodations are not maintained, the emitted noise studies contain numerous errors, and the researcher falsely states in his study that the SES is still in consultation while it actually ended a year and a half ago.

The Kytherian landscape, and the interpretation of its architecture with terraces, its special mosaic, coastline and open horizon, with low-density housing limited to distinct settlements, is a cultural heritage of Kythera with recognition of its distinctiveness throughout the Greek island space and the European one. It is a fully preserved and officially preserved Island, with rare morphology for small islands, with one of the richest biodiversities in plant species and flora, internationally recognized place as a passage for migratory birds, especially rare and protected species of hawks. With 100 kilometers of restored emblematic trails (KYTHERA TRAILS), thousand-year beekeeping tradition awaiting registration in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece, restoration of a system of ancient water micro-dams, cottage farming and organic olive growing, the island relies on the Circular Economy. The industrialization of the island will have harsh and irreversible consequences for our place and will bring environmental, cultural, economic, and social decline. In compliance with the provisions of the international Aarhus Convention and the national ratification law for public participation in environmental policy-making [Article 7 of Law 3422/2005 (A’ 303) for the ratification of the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, we refuse to sacrifice the environmental, historical and cultural capital of Kythera.

We explicitly request the implementation of the Ministry’s studies that emphatically stress the importance of Kythera’s biodiversity, which are being disregarded by the consortium “WIND PARK TROULOS O.E.” of TERNA ENERGY interests, which was recently acquired by the MASDAR business group from the United Arab Emirates.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION
Participation in the public consultation can be done either individually by registering in the ELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTER of the Ministry (https://eprm.ypen.gr/) or by co-signing the objection text by sending the following information to the email:

d11kythira@gmail.com

Natural persons: NAME, SURNAME, FATHER’S NAME-ADDRESS Legal entities: NAME, HEADQUARTERS, TAX ID NUMBER

AN ANNOUNCEMENT WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATION METHOD IN THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION THAT ENDS ON 9-7-2025 WILL FOLLOW