S'Archittu, Sardinian jewel under siege
Spanish and German projects on the coast between Alghero and Oristano: 66 blades between 300 and 380 metres high that would devastate the western side of the islandPer restare aggiornato entra nel nostro canale Whatsapp
It has been known for some time that the useless moratorium approved by the Regional Council would not have stopped the wind invasion. The Regional Palaces tried to shift the effects of the law to a phantom “block” of the authorization procedures, but soon even that illusory hope collapsed on the advance of an avalanche of procedures that had become unstoppable.
Bentu teacher
A race against time to grab incentives and state perks, just to exploit “su bentu maestru”, to be intercepted on land and at sea. Camouflaged companies and open-faced multinationals, from a few euros to the weight of many millions in share capital. In Rome they don’t care about moratoria disavowed even before being launched, they go straight ahead as never before. They won’t go on vacation in August, just to avoid stopping the authorization terms to the detriment of Sardinia. To understand this, just look at the table of deadlines for observations-oppositions to projects presented for the Environmental Impact Assessment.
August Race
Dozens of projects just published in the “notices” file to trigger the 30 days of routine needed to comply with the procedures. As if on purpose, those deadlines fall on the never-ending holiday of Ferragosto, as if to dissuade anyone from sending objections and comments to those projects with which to stick wind turbines everywhere, from the peaks of the internal areas to the marine horizon, in front of the most exclusive coasts of the Island. It is no coincidence that one of the most devastating projects on the coastal front, published on August 4th and put to expire “oppositions” for next September 4th, is precisely the one dedicated to “su bentu maestru”, located in the heart of the western coast of Sardinia, between Alghero and Oristano, between Capo Marrargiu and Capo Mannu, right in front of the monument of S'Archittu, the small great arch of the coast of Cuglieri.
Acciona-Abbanoa
It was presented by a multinational well-known in Sardinia, not for wind but for water, having now a monopoly on Abbanoa's contracts for the management of purification plants, potabilization and water networks. The name of the proponent is recurring: Acciona, or rather the Spanish giant that would like to stick the beauty of 32 offshore wind turbines 300 meters high, potentially extendable to 380 meters, on the coast in front of Bosa, at the foot of Montiferru. A devastation not only visible to the naked eye, even more so for coasts higher than sea level, but capable of transforming coastal and marine habitats forever, imposing bans on fishing and navigation, violating seabeds and various landings on dry land.
32 blades of “Mistral”
They have prosaically called the project “Mistral”, the Occitan-French name for the mistral wind, as if to make explicit the objective behind the climb on the Sardinian sea. Considering the procedural deadlines indicated on the ministerial website, Acciona’s appears to be the aquatic outrage most advanced in terms of authorization. The use of the silent time window of Sardinia’s fiery August says a lot about the determination not to waste time on observations from citizens, associations, municipalities and the Region. Acciona’s offshore project, however, is at the center of a dispute between international giants. The Germans of Bay/wa, headquartered in Munich but with a logistics base in the financial heart of Milan, have also arrived to compete for the Sardinian sea. Presenting the copycat project is Regolo Rinnovabili, 100% German capital, with the attitude of a “father-master” on offshore wind power. The “krauts” wasted no time and almost two years ago they also requested the concession of an infinite body of water at the gates of Tharros, also close to the famous arch of S'Archittu. The request to the Coast Guard is detailed: «application for a single authorization for the construction and operation of an offshore wind farm for the production of electricity from a renewable source with a power of 510 megawatts». Another 34 blades, for a total of 66 wind generators between 300 and 380 meters high.
Covered company
Unlike Acciona, which shows up with the heavy load of the multinational, the Germans have chosen the path of the satellite-vehicle company, the “Regolo Rinnovabili”, a ten thousand euro “Srl”, which claims to have behind it «a consolidated economic operator in the sector», Bay/Wa precisely. The clash is titanic, around one of the symbols of the western coast. Between the two, however, there is a difference: they measure the territorial impacts with opposite results. In the effects table the Spanish speak of minimal impacts on the sea, the Germans, instead, confess the consequences also on the land front.
Disaster at the door
And they do not hide the disaster: "Direct and indirect disturbances on Landscape and Tourism, Aesthetic interference with the marine and coastal landscape, naturalistic, educational, cultural, recreational and seaside tourism, visual interference of wind turbines both from the sea and from the land". And if they confess it, imagine the disaster that risks being consumed in front of the monument of S'archittu.