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Wind turbine at Markbygden near Piteå. Photo: Tom Sullivan / SR International

One of the largest wind farms in the world is being built in northern Sweden but not everyone is pleased about it. The turbines cut across an area used by Sweden’s indigenous Sámi reindeer herders.

An hour’s drive inland from the town of Piteå, a dozen wind turbines tower over the surrounding forest. In the next few years 1,101 turbines will be erected here at a cost of $8.2 billion.

“This plateau has really good wind conditions – that’s the main reason it’s being built here,” said Jonas Lundmark from the local council.

“Also 95 percent of the land is owned by two forestry companies and there has been a steady decline in the population over the last 50 years. People living here are very keen to get more business into the area.”

By 2020, the wind farm is expected to provide about half of the national target for new wind energy – about 12 terawatt hours – that’s roughly the equivalent of two Swedish nuclear reactors, according to the company building the wind farm.

Wind power is a high priority for the Swedish government, and the local power to veto planning applications for wind farms has been removed to pave the way for more of them.

Stefan Lundmark, from the Swedish ministry of enterprise and energy says that the trend across the Nordic countries is to build in northern, more sparsely populated areas.

Sámi reindeer herders losing grazing land

“I think that the wind farms will be bigger and bigger and most of them will be in northern Sweden. In the south it’s more densely populated and there are more competing interests,” he said.

Leaving the wind farm traffic, the only traffic I met on the newly paved road was a herd of reindeer that shot out in front of the car, forcing me to stop. With the low winter sun I almost failed to see them until it was too late.

The new road winds through the Sámi reindeer herding lands, and the local herders say it will limit their movements and endanger their animals. They are locked in a dispute over compensation with the company building the wind farm – they say they were never properly consulted before the building got underway.

Ingrid Inga, president of the Sámi Parliament, says this is just the latest chapter in a longstanding struggle between Sámi reindeer herders and industrial interests.

“We’re not against wind power – but we are against big wind farms like Markbydgen because they affect the reindeer business – the local Sámi herders will lose about a quarter of their winter grazing land. That’s really reprehensible from our point of view,” she said.

Inger says that Sámi herding communities should be consulted before giant wind farms are built, which she says did not happen in Markbygden.

She explains that reindeer herders need to move their herds between seasonal grazing lands – often across long distances – during the year. But increasing demands on the land from other economic interests is making that more and more difficult, and is leading to the closure of traditional Sámi businesses.

National interest versus Sámi rights

“The government can take over land earmarked for reindeer grazing – if it’s in the national interest. You have mining, hydro power, forestry and now wind power – each of them competing for land used by Sámi herders – and it all adds up.

Svevind, the company building the windfarm say that they have consulted the Sámi and that they are willing to pay appropriate compensation.

But Sámi grievances run deep – there is a long history in the region of what is perceived as land-grabbing by government and industrial interest, explained Patrick Lantto, an historian at the Centre for Sámi Research in Umeå.

Although the Sámi are protected by a law which gives them the right to grazing lands across vast stretched of the north of the country, Lantto says its does not add up to much in practice as it’s next to impossible for herders to prove they have been using the land.

And despite some recent court rulings in their favour, it would seem that the odds are against them.

“There’s a strong sentiment that reindeer husbandry could prevent development in the north,” he said.

“In a recent case the environmental court clearly stated that Sweden has a goal of increasing it’s percentage of renewable energy and this is a goal which ways more heavily than protecting the rights of reindeer herders.”

Source: Sveriges Radio

John Masvik, CEO of Finnmark Kraft, stated in Finnmarken newspaper,

There were strong views in reindeer herding, one might say. We have learned from this, and it is important for us to enter into dialogue with them as quickly as possible

This would occur after the current autumn migrations are completed, by November and December. The regional administration are extremely keen for the development to proceed.

Source – Finnmarken

In their complaint the Saami Council argue that the project is socially unsustainable and in breach of Saami rights.

The Swedish government has granted planning permission for the world’s largest land based wind power park to be built in the municipality of Piteå, Sweden, where the Saami community of Östra Kikkejaur have their winter reindeer herding pastures. The wind power park will consist of over 1000 wind turbines, an 800 km road, and extensive infrastructure, which means that reindeer herding in the area will be severely restricted.

”The Swedish state has admitted that the project will destroy at least 25% of the Saami community’s winter reindeer herding pastures, but the state has argued that renewable energy is more important than Saami rights. The financier of the project’s first phase, the German bank KfW IPEX-Bank, has defended their investment by referring to the Swedish state’s approval of the project. But the state planning permission, and thereby KfW IPEX-Bank’s financing,  are in breach of international law because Saami rights are not being respected”, says Mattias Åhrén, president for the Saami Council.

Download the Press Release 1004 Press release Markbygden

Download the Letter of Noticification to the Bank KfW IPEX 1004 Markbygden OECD

Text of the full press release below

German bank finances giant wind power project in breach of Saami rights

Saami Council has today lodged a complaint over the German KfW IPEX-Bank’s financing of a giant wind power project on Saami reindeer herding territories. The wind power project risks making reindeer herding unviable in the area and is therefore in breach of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. In their complaint the Saami Council argue that the project is socially unsustainable and in breach of Saami rights.

The Swedish government has granted planning permission for the world’s largest land based wind power park to be built in the municipality of Piteå, Sweden, where the Saami community of Östra Kikkejaur have their winter reindeer herding pastures. The wind power park will consist of over 1000 wind turbines, an 800 km road, and extensive infrastructure, which means that reindeer herding in the area will be severely restricted.

”The Swedish state has admitted that the project will destroy at least 25% of the Saami community’s winter reindeer herding pastures, but the state has argued that renewable energy is more important than Saami rights. The financier of the project’s first phase, the German bank KfW IPEX-Bank, has defended their investment by referring to the Swedish state’s approval of the project. But the state planning permission, and thereby KfW IPEX-Bank’s financing,  are in breach of international law because Saami rights are not being respected”, says Mattias Åhrén, president for the Saami Council.

The Saami community has been in contact with the German bank, KfW IPEX-Bank, and highlighted the fact that the bank’s financing of the project is not in line with the bank’s commitments regarding human rights, indigenous rights, and environmental sustainability. The Saami community has also requested a meeting with the bank, but the bank has ignored the community’s request. In their communication with the community KfW IPEX-Bank claim that the bank’s commitments do not apply to projects in OECD countries, and therefore are not relevant to Sweden. The bank argues that they follow Swedish law and the decisions of Swedish public authorities, and that this is guarantee enough that Saami rights are respected.

”The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises apply of course to projects in all countries, and Sweden is no exception. We look forward to a dialog with the German government regarding KfW IPEX-Bank’s investment in this controversial project. It is a myth that Sweden respects human rights”, says Mattias Åhrén, president for the Saami Council.

Sweden has received repeated and harsh international critique from the UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the UN Human Rights Committee because Sweden breaches Saami land rights by not regulating resource development activities on traditional Saami lands and does not give Saami communities the opportunity for effective participation in decisions that affect them.

Contact: Mattias Åhrén, President, Saami Council +47 47 37 91 61

We hoped to the end, that our interests would come first. For us reindeer herders, if the exploitation of Stekenjokk goes ahead, it will be a disaster and we will resist all attempts until we go bankrupt…Building wind turbines on Stekenjokk will kill our Sameby.

Wind power is also being proposed in a new area on the Kola Peninsula in North West Russia. According to Barents Observer, a Russian company is requesting permission for the construction of a 110 million EURO windmill park on the western side of the Pechenga Bay, just few kilometres from the border to Norway.

(Photo J.E. Kalvemo, NRK) The Bessaker wind power station in the Fosen region in the southernmost parts of reindeer husbandry in Norway has just opened and was visited by reindeer herders from Norway and Sweden (in Jamtland and Trondelag) who fear the impact that it will have (there are plans for large expansion) on reindeer and loss of pastures. There is also wind power development on the Swedish side of the border and reindeer herders are feeling squeezed according to reindeer herder Arvid Jaama on the Norwegian side. Reindeer Herder on the Swedish side Sture Åhren said to NRK Sami Radio,

If this wind power development continues on the Norwegian and Swedish side of the border, I would warn young people to stay away from reindeer herding.

Reindeer Herder Patrik Lundgren from the Östra Kikkejaurs sameby, Photo Nils Widman

Although on paper, Sami reindeer herders have a statutory right to graze their reindeer over half the surface of Sweden, in practice, industrial activities such as mining, hydropower, logging, infrastructure and the new kid on the block, windpower development culminate in a progressive loss and fragmentation of pastures.

There are now 14 wind power parks planned on paper that are in areas of reindeer husbandry in Sweden. The largest wind park in the world (by German company Svevind) is planned in the Östra Kikkejaurs sameby, and it will cover a quarter of their winter pastures. The project plans to erect 1000 windmills to provide electricity for 2 million homes.

Reindeer herders in the district have been offered compensation, but reindeer herders are looking for a compensation package that spans the lifetime of the project. A social impact assessment found that the construction of roads to facilitate the project would mean 200,000 truck journeys which over a 10 year period means 100 trucks per day with obvious risks to reindeer – loss of pastures, disturbance and deaths due to traffic.

Original Story – Dagens Nyheter

English summary – Barentsobserver

(Visualisation of proposed wind power megaproject from Vernfosen)

Reindeer herders in the South Sami regions in Norway fear for their future, in a story from yesterdays NRK Sami Radio. Reindeer herder Terje Haugen is the head of the Fosen reindeer husbandry district (North of Trondheim). Much of his time over the last few years has been taken up with struggling against wind power development on his districts winter pastures, most particularly Fosenhalvøya. A seminar on South Sami rights is being held in Trøndelag this week and this issue has been high on the agenda. Hauge feels that legislation and current Sami rights do not protect their livelihood.

Large areas around each windmill will be developed, and roads are constructed between each windmill. When all this is combined, a lot of pastures disappear.

A campaign has been launched to protest against the megaproject, with an online petition.

Arvid Jåma, a reindeer herder in the southern Sami area of Fosen, Trondelag, where NVE plan to develop an enormous wind park supplying 4038 MW, said

I see no option but to quit reindeer herding if Fosen is developed into a windmill park.

Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) is subordinated to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, and is responsible for the administration of Norway´s water and energy resources. Jåma’s attorney was clear in his criticism of the Norwegian state,

The state is pretty good at granting funds to the Sami for cultural, education and language. At the same time, they are completely absent when it comes to preventing major intervention in the pastures of the reindeer herding Sami.  The state is eager for as much development as possible.

Haugen demanded that all development plans be halted, funding be provided to Sami in order that they may properly be represented and that optons for new pasture lands not be counted out.

In another story, Elinor Guttorm Utsi was disappointed that only 2 out of 9 new board members of NBR NRL were women, which signified, she said that the organisation did not take gender equality seriously, despite criticisms.

The whole world’s elite now come to the area. They come to areas (to ski) which we depend on in the summer. The reindeer need these areas for cooling in the summer, but the animals can no longer go there because of the skiing events. Interference is increasing. One can say that this also creates psychological problems for us,

 Danielson went on to talk about the other challenges that herders face in the area,

It is important to mobilise against the construction of windmills. Moreover, the expansion of cabin building creates problems for, among other things, migration. Those who have cabins will also be hunting in these areas. This creates problems for us with dogs who will run for anything at a time when the reindeer are to have peace. In addition, power lines are criss crossing the pastures.

If these issues were not addressed, reindeer could no longer thrive, said Danielson, and without reindeer, the Sami culture could not survive.