The Aeolian affair is tinged with yellow and red. The "yellow" is that of the titanic clash between Palazzo Chigi, seat of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and the Ministry of Infrastructures, that of Porta Pia. The "red", that of Thunnus thynnus Linnaeus, the home bluefin tuna in the waters of Carloforte which, according to the papers of the Port Authority of Cagliari, could be endangered by those cyclopean blades placed in the middle of the sea in front of the island of San Pietro. There is everything and more in the new wind invasion project that landed a few hours ago at the gates of the Ichnusa pier, in the headquarters of the Port Authority of Cagliari.
Danesi in San Pietro
The name had already sprung up in our survey on offshore wind, but now there is the official status: State concession application for the duration of 30 years of maritime areas and stretches of water in the territorial sea of Sardinia to create a floating wind farm with 35 blades of 300 meters each to be placed in front of the Island within the Island. Proponent Thalassa Wind, a modest limited liability company with a capital of ten thousand euros that is a candidate to carry out a billionaire project on the coasts of southern Sardinia. In reality, behind that "limited liability" there is much more. Starting with Leopoldo Versace who is the legal representative of the operation, that is, one of the most prominent men of Vestas in the world, one of the largest manufacturers of wind turbines in the world. The shareholder of the climb to the sea of Carloforte, in fact, is Wind Power Development, offices in the headquarters of the wind business in Denmark, global interests, from the Gulf countries to the sea of "U Pàize" , the Tabarchine name of Island of San Pietro. They declare it themselves, a company indirectly and wholly owned by Vestas Wind System, a world-leading operator in the manufacturing, installation and maintenance sector. The summary is simple, from the producer to the consumer.
Tour match
They produce the blades, place them, manage them, and again they, the Danes, take home billions of incentives from the Italian state, "earned" in the sea of Carloforte, turning the propellers with the Sardinian wind. The game around, here in the Sardinian red tuna street, is a fresco in the open sea: Europe has given Italy, with the consent of the riotous northern European countries, 209 billion euros, a non-repayable part and one to be repaid, Italy allocates an important part to finance offshore wind power and, as it happens, the Danes, the rebellious ones who did not want to grant the shared “debt- bond ” to Italy, present themselves to the collection. They must have gotten important reassurance if they eventually gave in. And now they have built-in blades. Not always, however, all donuts come out with a hole, indeed. In a moment, Thalassa's project lets the mask fall on what is happening in the palaces of power of Rome with Sardinia as a sacrificial victim who for the moment is watching. The "yellow" is all in the exchange of letters reserved between the Port Authority, the Ministry of Infrastructure and none other than the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. From the documents in our possession, a head-on clash emerges, without half measures, between the dicastery of Enrico Giovannini, the statistician employed in public works, and the Sole Representative of the State Administrations stationed right in the Draghi offices, in the heart of Palazzo Chigi. It was the latter, as supervisor and guarantor of the unity of state action to express "perplexity" on the procedures of the Port Authority of Cagliari. With an official note he had even put it down on paper on 23 June last, questioning "the correctness of the administrative procedure followed in the light of the new regulatory framework recently intervened on the matter".
Between two fires
The Port Authority of Cagliari, squeezed between two fires, between Porta Pia and Palazzo Chigi, on July 14th announced that it would have suspended all procedures regarding wind turbines at sea if a precise provision had not been made by the competent ministry. The Rome dispatch crossed the protocol of the Ichnusa Pier on 18 July last and is tranchant : "With reference to what is requested by this Command .... subject to providing information and any useful element, once the feedback from the MITE has been acquired, it should be noted that, in the opinion of the undersigned, the investigative procedures initiated cannot be suspended ". The substance is a punch in the face at Palazzo Chigi. The provision of Giovannini's department is, therefore, without appeal: do not care what the Presidency of the Council of Ministers says, in this case the Sole Representative of the state administrations, who decides the procedure is us and no one else. With many greetings. In practice, the Ministry of Infrastructure orders: with the wind turbines at sea full speed ahead. A titanic clash between state powers, embarrassing even for a captaincy commander who hierarchically should depend on the Ministry of Defense even if functionally framed in the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Human life at sea
All this, however, does not prevent the Captain Mario Valente, Commander of the Port Authority of Cagliari, from writing in writing a position that a seaman cannot hide even before higher orders: "For the exclusive aspects of competence, under the safety profile of maritime navigation, safeguarding human life at sea and maritime police, the need for preliminary planning of the areas to be allocated to the location of wind farms is highlighted, since their coexistence could in the future interfere with traffic and on fishing activities as well as having interactions with the maritime space of other States ». In a few lines the Commander writes everything. Translated from the “ British ” jargon of state graduates to the substance of the issues it means: with this wind invasion, reckless, without any logic and planning, maritime safety, the protection of human life at sea and the maritime police itself are put at risk. The message is clear: know that this far west is unsustainable. But there are two other elements in those few lines that bring out a sibylline but eloquent position of the Capitaneria: fishing and foreign states. The routes of the "red", the typical tuna of Carloforte, according to the evaluations marked in the publication note of the project of the Danes of Thalassa, are at risk.
Red Tuna
The Port Authority writes: "In fact, possible limitations to fishing activities and anchoring have been highlighted that the plant, for the part falling into the territorial sea, could cause in terms of vibrations and noises, on the surrounding environment, in particular , with regard to the possible interference of the plants with the migration routes of the bluefin tuna ( Thunnus thynnus Linnaeus) , which is an activity of primary importance for the Island of San Pietro ». Under attack there would be one of the most important economic activities of fishing in Sardinia, capable of creating a real induced activity of great importance in Carloforte. Placing those cyclopean shovels, in the project the height of 300 meters above sea level was indicated, means attempting without the possibility of remedying natural routes that would be permanently compromised.
Explosive fishing
There is another passage that on fishing the Harbor Office points out the "explosive" load on that sea area: "Furthermore, the area required for the construction of the offshore wind farm could reduce even more the usual fishing areas for the small and medium-sized units, partly already reduced following the issuing of an interdiction order for the carrying out of military training activities carried out in the neighboring military range of Capo Teulada ». As if to say, military ships were not enough to bomb turquoise seabeds and prohibit mere mortals and fishermen from infinite stretches of water, now we also want to segregate this new sea space, equal to one and a half million square meters of water in front of the Island of Carloforte.
Carloforte d'Algeri
The Thalassa project, however, also risks triggering an international case. It is always the Harbor Master's Office to point out an element of unprecedented gravity. In front of Carloforte, immediately after the international waters line, there is the competence of a foreign state. The commander does not say it, but he knows perfectly well what it refers to. In fact, Algeria has extended its Exclusive Economic Zone, right at the gates of the Island of San Pietro, occupying the international waters on the western shores up to Bosa. A robbery that is taking place without a shot being fired, with Palazzo Chigi intent on paying homage to the palaces of Algiers for a bit of gas, renouncing to defend its borders at sea forever, allowing Algerian "friends" to grab international waters in front of the house. Now, however, the case is in danger of exploding. The Danes, with the go-ahead from the Ministry of Infrastructure, are heading straight for the Services Conference, already convened for next November 7th.
On September 14, the Tar
To stop this mess there are, for now, only three ways: the TAR of Lazio, the Constitutional Court and Algeria. Meanwhile, on 14 September, the first hearing was set at the Administrative Court of the Capital for the appeal of the Sardinian Region against the Energy Decree. The war is just beginning.