JOINT PRESS RELEASE Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace, Hellenic Ornithological Society, WWF Greece
Time for decision about wind farms in fire-stricken Evros!
Will there be accountability or were the Environment Ministry's pledges just lip service?
The Decentralized Administration of Macedonia - Thrace is called to decide on the licensing of four wind power plants in the burnt and adjacent areas of Evros. One of them is located entirely within the burnt area of the ‘Southern Forest Complex of Evros’ area, part of the Natura network and even partly within a Nature Protection Zone, where the installation of wind turbines is not allowed. The others are located in very close proximity (500-1500 metres) to the burnt area, within critical habitats for rare birds of prey. All four wind farms are owned by the same company, with three of them located in series, in the same area. But instead of being considered as a single project, they are each being licensed separately, demonstrating once again a clear case of deliberate fragmentation of a large, high-impact project into individual projects presented as “lower-impact”. And all this in the same area where the Administration and the CoS have rejected on environmental grounds all the wind farms that have sought environmental permits from 2017 to date, but it seems that investors are persisting, bringing new projects back on the sites where the previous ones were rejected.
The Minister of Environment, the General Secretary of Forests, and even the Prime Minister himself have announced - a few times - that no wind farm will be licensed in the burnt areas of Evros. In fact, from the floor of Parliament it was announced that a special study would be carried out to determine the terms and conditions for the continuation of the licensing of wind farms in Evros. This study has been completed, but it has remained ‘in the drawers’ of the Ministry for a year now. Perhaps because it concludes that for the protection and restoration of endangered birds of prey and their habitats, it is not enough to suspend the licensing of wind farms only in the burnt area but they must also be suspended in neighboring not burnt areas, which are critical habitats and future shelter for the birds. Will they keep their commitments and follow the advice of the scientists who prepared the study, or were their commitments in the end just lip service to political expediency?
At this point, we must stress that despite the continuous pressure from nine environmental organisations to take immediate and concrete legislative measures to regulate the licensing of wind farms in Evros, the Ministry of Environment stubbornly refuses to do so. This omission, in fact, is creating all this confusion in this case, with investors on the one hand continuing to plan their projects with uncertain results and the competent authorities on the other hand consuming valuable time in procedures that could have been avoided if the Ministry of Environment had given clear directions and taken the necessary legislative measures for the siting of wind turbines after the fire in Evros.
Notes:
- The wind farm located within the area burnt in 2023 is “Derveni” and is located between the settlements of Nipsa and Avanta of the Municipality of Alexandroupolis. Based on the approved Special Environmental Study, 3 of the 8 wind turbines are located within the Nature Protection Zone, within which the installation of wind turbines is not allowed and the remaining 5 are located at a distance of 40 to 800 meters outside of it. The remaining three wind turbines are “ANGIATIS”, ‘TRELAS’ and “MYTIKAS”, which are located between the settlements of Pylaia, Melia, Koila and Itea of the Municipality of Alexandroupolis, at a distance of 500 to 1500 meters from the burnt area of 2023. All projects are owned by the same company “European Wind Farms Greece ApS”.
- The same company has many more projects to be licensed in the wider area and at the end of 2024 had submitted applications for licensing of an additional 10 wind farms (89 wind turbines, total capacity 313.95 MW) in northern Evros, within Nature Protection Zones, where the installation of wind turbines is not allowed under the approved Special Environmental Study. The permitting process for these projects remains open as a decision to reject or approve them is pending.
- From the history of rejections of numerous wind farms in the same area in the past, it is clear that the Administration, taking into account the negative opinions of the competent authorities and the available environmental data, has made it clear that the installation of wind farms in this area will have very serious impacts on the protected object of the neighboring Natura sites. Indicatively, some of the wind farms that have been rejected in the same area:
Year 2017:
- “TRELLOS KEDROS”, by the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia - Thrace
Year 2020:
- “GOURIKO”, by the Decentralised Administration of Macedonia - Thrace (DIPECHOS/2170/17-7-2020) as well as the application for annulment filed by the beneficiary company (CoS 580/2025)
- “MYTIKAS”, by the Decentralised Administration of Macedonia - Thrace (DIPECHOS/2169/17-7-2020) as well as the application for annulment filed by the beneficiary company (CoS 581/2025). The project in question is located approximately 200 m from the already rejected project..
- “MELIA”, by the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia - Thrace (DIPECHOS/3286/12-10-2020) as well as the application for annulment filed by the developer (CoS 2632/2022)
Year 2022:
- “FERON - KAPSALA AGRICULTURE, by the Region of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace (DFA/PAMTH/67224/1325/21-3-2022)
- ”TSOUMARLITIKA", by the Region of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace (DFA/PAMTH/67164/1321/21-3-2022)
- Actions after the fire:
- On 26 September 2023, the Minister of Environment and Energy announced the suspension of economic activities in the fire-affected area of Evros, however, almost two years later, appropriate and adequate measures have not yet been taken on this issue.The Minister's announcement is available (in Greek) here.
- On 27 October 2023, nine environmental organisations sent an urgent letter to the Ministry of Environment with specific and well-founded proposals, calling on the Ministry to suspend by legislation for at least three years potentially harmful projects (not beneficial ones) and activities within the burnt areas and, in particular for wind energy projects to suspend them also in the adjacent, bird-critical areas of Evros and Rhodope. You can see the letter here.
- On 6 November 2023, the Minister of Environment, in response to a topical question, announced that science has the first word and that the continuation of environmental licensing in the affected area will be based on a scientific study to be carried out. You can watch the relevant meeting (in Greek) here.
- On 13 November 2023, the Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace (SPBT) submitted comments to the public consultation on a draft bill of the Ministry of Environment, asking for the proposals of the nine environmental organisations to be included in the bill. You can see the comments of the SPBT on the public consultation here.
- On 15 October 2024, based on the new scientific data that emerged, nine environmental organizations reiterate their request calling on the Minister to implement the recommendations of the study of the NECCA and the University of Crete, suspending for 5 years the environmental licensing procedures for Wind Power Plants in critical ecosystems in Evros and Rhodope. You can see the letter here.


