The penalties of going green
In the current moves towards “carbon neutrality” it is often forgotten that the means which need to be employed in “saving the planet” may themselves be less than environmentally friendly. One of the arguments fielded against the wholesale adoption of electric cars is that the extraction of the metals used in manufacturing batteries is in itself environmentally destructive and that the electricity used to charge them at present comes mainly from fossil fuel generating plants. There are concerns that their extra weight will cause degradation of infrastructure, increased air pollution from tyre particles, and so on.
Similarly, the building of ever-larger wind generators, especially on terrestrial sites, represents a form of environmental pollution, in terms of their visual impact, the noise generated at close quarters and the possible effects on livestock and birds, not to mention the problem of end-of-life disposal, with much of the materials used in their construction being unrecyclable.
A further issue is that large-scale technological changes cannot be brought about by government regulation alone. They require implementation by the private sector, and in order to justify the enormous sums which need to be invested, companies need to show a profit which will satisfy their shareholders. The greenest solution may not be the cheapest, and so businesses may come up against a conflict of interest when called upon to implement them.
These contradictions are thrown into sharp relief in the case of Crete – an island which depends on the preservation of its natural beauties in order to attract the tourists who provide 50 per cent of its GDP. As we mentioned in a recent post, they have surfaced in the case of the plans to drill for gas off the south and south west of the island (a notionally “green” development insofar as natural gas is regarded as a necessary transition fuel in the move towards carbon neutrality). And they are being encountered in the moves to remove its dependence on the fossil-fuel generation of electricity.
Issues surrounding the undersea cable connections
The installation of the undersea cable connection between Kissamos and the Peloponnese has proceeded fairly smoothly, with the terrestrial connection between the cable’s exit point in Kissamos bay and the converter station in Chania being buried alongside the VOAK. However, the installation of the main cable connection between Heraklion and Attica is not proceeding so smoothly.
The undersea cable from Attica terminates near the converter station at Damasta near Heraklion, which is only a few kilometres from the coast, and that stretch is being laid underground. However, for the purposes of load balancing a high-tension connection is required between Damasta and Chania. To carry this link, the grid operator ADMIE is proposing to install overhead cables on a succession of 269 pylons which will cross some of the island’s most environmentally sensitive areas. The vigorous local reactions to this proposal have laid bare numerous shortcomings in the handling of the issue both by the company and by local government. Things came to a head at a meeting of the Apokoronas Municipal Council at the town hall in Vryses, chaired by the mayor, Haralambos Koukianakis, on 9th February. The following is taken from a report of the meeting in Haniotika Nea.
Protests in Apokoronas
“Full of inaccuracies”, environmentally and culturally damaging, “created by a company which only sees its own profits”. These were some of the reactions by participants in the meeting to ADMIE’s plan for a 150KV high-tension line between Chania and Damasta. The plan envisages the construction of 269 pylons 35 metres high on the mountainous areas from Chania to eastern Rethymnon.
The plan was presented to the meeting by the engineer B. Kontezakis, who made a series of observations, noting that it was based on a map dating from 1987-88, when the situation on the ground was very different from what it is today. He said that apart from passing very close to a number of villages, the cable’s route passes through the landmark Diktamo Gorge, while at Georgioupoli it passes over houses and hotels.
Subsequently various representations were made by those present. Professor E. Gidarakis of the Technical University of Crete, while observing that he was unable to speak officially about the plan, asked “Since such a project is planned, why not do it properly. Why not run it underground?”
The Deputy Regional Governor for Chania, Nikos Kalogeris, described how the two undersea cables linking Crete with the mainland would solve the island’s energy problems, but a link between the two cables was necessary to stabilise the overall system. “The ADMIE wants the system to be stable, but because it is a company with shareholders it has chosen the cheapest option, which does not mean that it is acceptable to us. On Tuesday we will be in Athens and will be urging them to withdraw the plan,” he said. He also said that “there is fertile ground here for conspiracy theories, such as that the pylons will be taking electricity from the wind generators”, but added that these are not serious suggestions, that no permit has been given for wind generators and there is no suitable wind in the area from Malaxa to Rethymnon.
For his part the mayor of Apokoronas Haralambos Koukianakis said that “from the moment that we all united together demand the obvious, they cannot but accept the best sustainable solution. We are not qualified to say what that solution is, but we are all agreed that the solution they are going to implement is the worst.”
Fotis Pontikakis of the Vamos Centre for Environmental Education stated that “the high-tension pylons are primarily an issue of health and environmental destruction. When they pass over settlements or houses they cause leukemia, especially in children. … Why is this happening? Most probably to serve some companies who want to fill the mountains with wind generators, or want to carry out mining.”
Deputy mayor of Chania Ioannis Nikiforakis said: “We are not against the energy upgrading and sufficiency of the island, but we must respect the citizens and the environment. The plan has many inaccuracies, it says that there is a favourable response from local communities, which is not the case.” He added that there are inaccuracies in the distances from settlements and isolated houses.
Roula Kastrinaki of the Ecological Initiative of Chania suggested that the whole project is unnecessary: “Crete could cover its own energy needs, it has sun, wind, water, we don’t need drilling activities, or companies which are only interested in extra profits.” She added that Crete becoming an energy hub will create many problems in the future.
Nikitas Melissakis, for the Laiki Syspeirosi (Popular Mobilisation) of Apokoronas, said that for the sake of profit ADMIE, a company with a turnover of many millions, would not lay the cable underground, instead “it wants to place 269 pylons, each of which will be in a concreted area of 400 sq m and for which they will have to open roads, destroying the natural environment.”
“We object to this plan of a company which only thinks of profit,” said Giannis Franzeskakis of the Mountaineering Club of Chania. Also voicing their opposition to the ADMIE’s proposals were representatives of cultural associations and local councillors.
Chania MP poses Parliamentary question
On the same day Chania MP Sevi Voloudaki posed a Parliamentary Question on the issue of the pylons to the minister for the Environment and Energy Theodoros Skylakakis. In her question she observed that as regards the Municipality of Chania it is proposed to run 25 pylons along a route which includes the communities of Nerokourou, Souda and Tsikalaria, Malaxa, Kampoi and Kontopoula, as well as the Diktamo Gorge, an important local landmark, adversely affecting the environment and the rich flora and fauna of the area. Moreover the high tension cables would emit electromagnetic radiation which would have consequences for the health of local residents.
She stressed that during the planning process “there was no examination of other solutions which would safeguard residents’ health and their quality of life, and protect the natural environment.” She asked the minister what steps he proposed to take to explore the possibility of laying the high-tension cables underground at the same time as the construction of the new VOAK.
The mayor’s statement
The participants in the meeting voted in favour of a statement produced beforehand by the Mr Koukianakis, which was as follows:
“The safeguarding of the quality of life of our citizens, respect for the environment and the protection of the natural beauty of the region of Apokoronas, which because of its unique physiognomy has come to define the cultural identity of our home, constitute non-negotiable values for us. It is a heritage which we, the people of Apokoronas, have had the good fortune and the blessing to receive from our forefathers, along with the obligation to pass it on unspoiled to future generations.
“At this critical moment, we are called upon quite unexpectedly to confront a threat to our environment. What creates even more anxiety is the way in which these measures were planned, the lack of any disclosure of the process and the false message that the local communities had supposedly been informed of the installation of the pylons and indeed that they were in agreement with it! This secretive approach raises many questions.
“Our obligations will not permit us to allow overground pylons carrying electricity to traverse: a) the Madares of Apokoronas, which have been officially classified as “Untouched Mountains”, b) the hiking paths of our municipality, which amongst other things are an attraction for many visitors, and c) near settlements and areas under cultivation, with the result that both the health and activities of our citizens will be endangered. This proposal is in complete contradiction to our own values and priorities. For us, the good of Apokoronas is the only goal which we will continue to serve with respect.
“We need to combine forces and send a resounding answer to the planned destruction of our natural wealth. We say Yes to the area’s development, we say Yes to the need to upgrade the area’s energy supply, which is necessary especially after the construction of the VOAK, which will cause an upsurge in the number of visitors to our island, but not at any price. An acceptable solution is the laying of the cables underground along the route of the new VOAK.”
(www.apokoronaslife.gr)
The response from ADMIE
The initial response from ADMIE was defensive; it stated that the plans had been made known to the Cretan Regional Authority and the Regional Unit of Chania three years ago – a fact denied but later admitted by the Deputy Regional Governor Nikos Kalogeris. There has been no explanation as to why there was no reaction from local government at the time – perhaps as the actual undersea cable from Heraklion had yet to be laid the issue did not seem urgent. The company also claimed initially that the plan had been approved by the Forestry Department, the Archaeological Service and the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA), although this was later modified to say that approval was awaited from these three organisations.
In the week following the protest meeting Mr Kalogeris met with ADMIE in Athens, accompanied by the Deputy Regional Governor for the Environment Nikos Xylouris. As reported again by Haniotika Nea, Mr Kalogeris said that the company had promised to send a technical team to hear the objections of local bodies and look for alternative solutions. They had however stated that laying the whole cable underground would increase the cost by a factor of 8, adding €150 million to the total, which would have to be recouped “from the electricity bills of the whole nation”. The proposal to lay the cable alongside the new VOAK was not feasible owing to time constraints and technical difficulties, they said.
Since then there have been further representations: both the mayor of Apokoronas and Chania MP Sevi Voloudaki have visited ADMIE in Athens, while Chania MP Dora Bakogiannis has made direct representations to the ADMIE’s CEO Manousos Manousakis.
It remains to be seen whether a compromise solution will be found. What is certain is that if there is a not a solution which is acceptable to the local community, the issue will be taken all the way to the Supreme Court, as has happened recently with the much smaller-scale issue of a sewage pumping station behind the “Zorba” beach at Stavros. It is in any case a striking example of how notionally “green” infrastructure projects can be highly detrimental to the environment they are supposed to protect, and it will certainly not be the last.