Fins of the wind – will the wind farm near Vetrino have it?

What is happening with the intention to create a huge wind park on the territory of the municipalities of Vetrino and Valchi Dol? What are the locals afraid of, are fins harmful to human health and the environment? Who stops an investment for a billion BGN? EcoVarna tried to untangle the tangled case. See what we found.

The Bulgarian company “Dobrotich Wind” planned to invest BGN 1.2 billion to build an onshore wind farm with 79 turbines, including 50 turbines in six villages in Valchi Dol municipality and 29 in five villages in Vetrino municipality. The company offered to cover the energy consumption of local residents at the rate of 1,200 KWh per year for a period of 35 years from the date of commissioning of the wind farm. The intention is from September 2022.

The new investment plans of one of the leading green energy investors in the world, however, were announced by local farmers, who protested against the appearance of private agricultural lands.

Farmers in the area

They are perplexed as to how fins can be built on black earth soils with 4% humus and believe that with this wind farm about 1000 decares will be irretrievably lost. They even define it as a “crime against humanity”.

“I am cultivating an array that is near a wind turbine. 2-3 years after its construction, the yield fell by about 30%. It turned out that in the vicinity of the wind turbine, the worms that support the humus layer of the soil begin to disappear.” This is what the local farmer Petar Petrov told the media at the time.

Thus, the small limestone municipality, with the decision of the municipal council, imposed a motto on green energy. This is the request of the Municipal Council for the ban on the installation of single hydroelectric generators at locations less than 1000 m from the target line to the property, and not 500 m, which is stipulated in the law.

The reaction of the investor “Dobrotich Wind” AD was to file a lawsuit in the Varna Administrative Court against this decision and later won it.

At the beginning of June with its final decision, the Supreme Administrative Court annulled the decision of the Municipal Council in Vetrino to impose a moratorium on the construction of wind energy parks in the area.

Before the decision of the court, he opposed the national order and declared it null and void on the grounds that the Betpino Municipal Council was an incompetent body, because the It is protected by a normative act of a higher degree.

However, the company said it would not make the planned large-scale investment. They cited a biased attitude on the part of the local government and an organized “smear campaign that tramples the good name of a company” as reasons.

It is not clear what happened in the meantime, but nine months later, Dobrotich Wind told EcoVarna that there will be a project, only on a smaller scale – instead of 79, it will build 58 fins.

The project

According to the preliminary studies of the wind potential, the site chosen near Vetrino is extremely suitable for the construction of such a park from the point of view of the wind resource.

The investment intention of “Dobrotich Wind” AD is to build a modern wind park using the best available world technologies with new turbines on its own land in the municipalities of Valchi Dol and Vetrino. The project includes 79 turbines. At its full planned size, the project will generate green electricity for over 400,000 households and save over 1.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions with its installed capacity of 519 MBt. The horizon of operation of the wind turbines will be about 35 years. And after the expiration of this period, the investor will fully recultivate the used territory, as provided by law. It is expected that over 100 jobs will be created in the various stages of its implementation and that new opportunities will be created for local businesses.

We are awaiting permission for the construction of 58 turbines, the process is developing in stages. We are currently in the process of assessing the impact on the environment (EIA), the executive director of “Dobrotich Wind” Sevda Yoncheva told EcoVarna.

It is planned to install turbines of the latest generation, which have the best security indicators and constant monitoring. The use of these modern facilities allows a high level of energy production with a minimum of utilized area.

“Everyone can have an opinion, but there is currently a slanderous and immoral PR campaign against us. It is the institutions that will determine whether a park should happen. We follow all the legal procedures and move forward,” Yoncheva added.

It is planned that the construction will start in 2026, and the park will be put into operation the following year.

The mayor of Vetrino, Dimitar Dimitrov, was tight-lipped on the subject. “I have no idea how far the project has gone. If there is a decision of the municipal council, I will implement it. At this stage, there is none – neither “for” nor “against” the wind farm. There is some lull, I can’t comment anything more, contact the company,” advised Dimitrov.

Activists from the association “Man-Nature-Life” are categorically against the idea of wind farms and talk about “slow death in the place of fins – decline of life and depopulation”. They are adamant that wind turbines harm people, animals and the soil. From the “Historical Park” attraction complex are also opponents of the “Dobrotich Wind” project. The speculation is that the fins will spoil the landscape and prevent business development. Asked by EcoVarna for an opinion, the executive director of “Historical Park” Ivelin Mihailov, was surprised that “Dobrotich Wind” continues with its intentions to implement the project. He was categorical:

The wind farm is gone

“Given that there is a decision by the municipal council and a signature from local residents against the investment, these people go ahead and think they will build the park?!”

According to him, the court overturned the decision of the municipal council regarding the ban on the total installation of wind farms, and not for the specific project. He claims that “Dobrotich Wind” withdrew their investment intention and there will be no wind farm there.

“I was in the municipal council meeting hall, where they read the text with the intention of withdrawing. This was before the end of the previous term. This information makes me think there is a backstory. Purely economically this area will be killed, it will be depopulated, it will be catastrophic if it happens. It’s like a plague passing through somewhere, I want you to quote me correctly,” Mihailov insisted.

The executive director of the Historic Park wants someone to sign off on the damage that will be done to the area, which he predicts will be in the millions or even billions over a 30-year period. Mihailov is not against wind energy, as long as the blades are not on agricultural land. He sees no problem with them being in mountains, deserts and other places far from people and the way of the bird.

The municipal council in Valchi dol – with an alternative decision

The mayor of Valchi dol, Kaloyan Tsvetkov, told EcoVarna that everything is currently in the hands of the court: “The decision of the Municipal Council, which was adopted at the session on March 15, is that the wind generators should be at a distance of 10 times the height of the facility from the urbanized territory. According to the investment intention, the height of the blade plus the rotor is 270 meters, which means that they should be 2.7 kilometers from the urbanized area. At the moment, there is an appeal from “Dobrotich Wind” against the decision, which has been sent to the Sofia Administrative Court.”

According to an analysis made in connection with the investment policy for renewable energy sources, wind generators will not be appropriate for electricity production in this area, stated Tsvetkov. The mayor said that the local population does not want the park to have it, because the agricultural land will be lost. Protests were organized as early as 2020 and 2021.

According to the investment intention, the foundation where the wind turbine will be placed – the 50 facilities on the territory of Valchi Dol municipality cover 3 acres with 3500 cubic meters of reinforced concrete. There are more easements, routes. Thus, very large uncultivable lands, which are fertile, are covered.

Tsvetkov has no prediction of how the saga will end: “Everything depends on the court. The municipal council is not the authorizing body, since the project is for the territory of two municipalities and in such cases the regional governor makes the decision. But the Municipal Council adopted a decision that is in line with European practices,” commented the mayor of Valchi dol. Read the entire interview with Kaloyan Tsvetkov on the subject here.

In the municipality of Vetrino, there is wind, evident from its name. However, will it blow into the metal fins or will it blow on empty?

In support of the project, environmentalists cite a special regulation from last year of the European Commission, according to which the construction of facilities for the production of energy from renewable energy sources is of higher public interest, and that they serve public health and safety. Because of their benefits, wind farms are being promoted not only in Europe, but all over the world. China and India are among the leading countries in the number of installed wind turbines, for example.

“Either there will be fins, or a park”, this is how some of the locals, familiar with the saga, comment. Whose interest will prevail remains to be seen.