Wind Farms in Kythira Incompatible with Environmental Study

Clearly incompatible with the Special Environmental Study (SES) for the NATURA area of Kythira is the planned project of three Wind Farms by TERNA, consisting of 30 wind turbines of 150 meters (4.5 MW each) in the protected NATURA area of Kythira. The submission of the studies was made at the “last minute” before the approval of the SES for the NATURA area, a move interpreted as a last-ditch attempt at political pressure from the company’s side. However, the prohibitive provisions of the SES regarding Wind Farms are absolutely clear and supported by particularly robust environmental documentation.

The Hellenic Ornithological Society participated in the preparation of the Special Environmental Studies for the NATURA areas of the Attica Region, focusing on the Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for avifauna. From the first submission of the SES, and based on available scientific data, the northwestern section of Kythira (where the project installation is planned) has been designated as a Nature Protection Zone (NPZ), a zone where many disturbing land uses and activities are excluded by law for biodiversity protection reasons, including the installation of renewable energy projects. It should be noted that this specific zoning proposal was never questioned at any stage of the public consultation.

TERNA’s massive Wind Farm is located for the most part (21 out of 30 wind turbines) within the Special Protection Zone (NATURA) – and entirely within the corresponding Important Bird Area – therefore in environmental terms there is no margin whatsoever for its licensing to proceed. For the Wind Farm to get a license, either the approval of the SES must be delayed for many more months without any justification, or the Ministry of Environment & Energy must unilaterally change the SES provisions to allow the installation of wind turbines: the implementation of either of these scenarios – unthinkable under normal conditions – would naturally constitute a colossal scandal of tailor-made service to a company!

The strong environmental documentation on which the SES proposal is based consists of unshakeable scientific evidence, which is additionally supported legislatively. Initially, the SPA of Kythira is one of the four – to date – NATURA areas that are recognized in Greek Legislation as migratory passages – bottlenecks, that is, areas where the routes of many migratory bird flocks converge, which results in many thousands of migratory birds passing through these areas. Specifically for the Kythira-Antikythira area, this is confirmed by the results of the major migration monitoring research program conducted by the ORNITHOLOGICAL Society in Antikythira: only the raptors passing through there each autumn range from 3,000 to over 5,000 in certain years, the overwhelming majority of which have first passed through Kythira.

It is enough for someone to read the position of the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN, the most authoritative international body for biodiversity protection, regarding the installation of wind turbines in migratory corridors to understand that the impacts of this Wind Farm will be dramatic and far beyond those directly recorded: “Migratory birds are particularly affected by wind turbines, as they often travel in large flocks along predetermined routes. Any obstacles that ‘block’ their flight paths will not only cause deaths from collision, but may force them to expend critical energy reserves by deviating from their course or bypassing essential resting stations altogether.”

At the same time, the SPA – NATURA area of Kythira constitutes an important habitat for nesting and/or feeding for very significant raptor species of Kythira, such as the Eleonora’s Falcon (which has one of its largest breeding colonies in the world in the area), the Peregrine Falcon, and the Bonelli’s Eagle.

In conclusion, the stillborn case of wind farms in Kythira can and must be definitively closed by the Ministry of Environment with the immediate approval of the SES for the NATURA areas of Attica, with the provisions that are known to date. Any other development would constitute another black environmental page for our country and every effort will be made to prevent it.

Contact: Roula Trigkou, Communications Coordinator: 210 8228704 & 210 8227937 ext.120 | Mobile 6977 528200 | rtrigou@ornithologiki.gr

Source: https://oikologein.blogspot.com/2025/06/natura.html