Since we last reported on the matter in July, the battle against the installation of 269 electricity pylons carrying a 150 kVA transmission line from Chania to Damasta in Heraklion, traversing some of the most environmentally sensitive areas of the local countryside, has continued to be waged sporadically. Following the creation of a fighting committee – the “Apokoronas Initiative” – at the end of June by the cultural associations of the municipality of Apokoronas, a number of protest meetings have taken place. They have also taken aim at a parallel proposal to install six giant wind farms in different areas of the nomos of Chania with which, despite official disclaimers, the cable plan seems closely linked.
The local media tend to report such activities piecemeal, rather than attempting to give a synoptic view of developments; however, some notable events have emerged. During a meeting between the affected municipalities and the grid management body ADMIE on 13th March, a two-month moratorium on further developments was agreed to allow consultations between the parties involved. From the reactions of the West Crete Technical Chamber quoted below, it appears that a number of alternative scenarios were suggested during the process, but were all rejected by ADMIE.
At the end of the consultation period, the mayor of Apokoronas Haralambos Koukianakis addressed an open letter to the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, appealing to his professed love of the Cretan countryside and its mountains and asking for his intervention on the issue. However, no response to that has been reported to date, and indeed a meeting between representatives of the Municipality of Apokoronas and the Energy minister Theodoros Skylakakis appears to have met a brick wall. On 27th July, Haniotika Nea reported on the meeting in the following terms:
Rage in Apokoronas: the Ministry unmoved on the pylons
Today a meeting took place between representatives of the Municipality of Apokoronas and the Energy minister Theodoros Skylakakis, at the latter’s office, on the subject of the 150 kVA high-tension line from Chania to Damasta. Those present included the mayor of Apokoronas Haralambos Koukianakis, municipal opposition leaders Andreas Kouklinos, Constantinos Gyparis and Nikitas Melissakis and the municipalities’ legal advisers, as well as ADMIE’s Director for New Transmission Works Michailis Hatzipanos. In a joint announcement following the meeting, the mayor and opposition leaders stated:
“Disappointment and indignation were caused by the meeting with the minister, who advanced the cost-benefit rationale on this sensitive and vital issue. Despite the fact that the representatives of the Municipality of Apokoronas put forward documented arguments, at the same time conveying the indignation of the entire population of Apokoronas, and although the legally required processes of acquiring permits for the project have not yet been completed, the side of the minister and ADMIE presented as irrevocable the decision to implement the planned project through overhead cabling, throughout the whole length of Apokoronas.
“Following the blanket denial by the political leadership, knowing the combative and democratic spirit of the people of Apokoronas in the defence of their land, we made it clear that whatever disagreeable consequences might follow would be the former’s responsibility. The unmoving stance of the political leadership leaves us no alternative but to express our complete opposition and to continue the struggle against the threatened destruction of Apokoronas, in company with the people of Apokoronas and its institutions.
Signed: the Mayor of Apokoronas Haralambos Koukianakis, majority opposition leader on the Apokoronas Municipal Council Andreas Kouklinos, minority opposition leader Konstantinos Gyparis, Nikitas Melissakis.”
(Haniotika Nea, 23-07-24)
Motorised demonstration
Local events aimed at raising awareness of the issue continued through the summer months and on 11th September a motorised protest took place, starting at the Mournies interchange of the VOAK and ending at the Plateia Eleftherias (Dikastirion) in front of the offices of the Regional Unit of Chania.
The demonstration was organised by the “Apokoronas Initiative against the Pylons and Wind Generators”, whose member Manolis Petakakis read out a resolution which was handed to the Deputy Regional Governor for Civil Protection Giorgos Tsapakos, in the absence of the Deputy Regional Governor for Chania Nikos Kalogeris. The resolution described the plans as an “environmental crime” and called for “the support of all the inhabitants of Apokoronas and Chania”.
Referring to the pylons, the resolution stated: “The project is a prelude to the installation and connection of hundreds of wind generators. In addition, it aims to transform Crete into a battery for the export of electrical energy to the countries of the South-East Mediterranean and Europe. It should be noted that the project is being presented as an implementation of the ‘green transition’. But the truth is that the inhabitants will continue to pay dearly for electrical power, while the ‘green investors’ will reap tremendous profits with the support of the government.”
And it added: “the plans in question will cause an irreversible environmental crime, as the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece (GEOTEE) has pointed out. Characteristically, 80 of the 269 pylons will be placed within biodiversity protection areas. Also 11 km out of the 101.3 km of the transmission line will pass through wildlife refuges. This will change the appearance of an area of enormous natural beauty, it will put extra pressure on residents and villages, it will provoke economic stagnation in the economic life of the uplands, such as stock raising, beekeeping and viticulture, it will downgrade cultural and hiking trails and, last and most important, it will adversely affect residents’ health.”
(Hania News, 16/09/24)
Alternative proposals rejected
This month, the West Crete branch of the Technical Chamber of Greece, who as part of the consultation process had submitted a series of proposals to ADMIE suggesting alternative routes for the new cable, expressed their dissatisfaction with what they termed a disappointing response, as reported in Haniotika Nea on 11th October:
Generalisations and vague statements from ADMIE
“Generalised, theoretical and without any methodical approach to an assessment of the consequences”, is how the Technical Chamber of Western Crete describes the memorandum with which ADMIE attempts to repudiate objections to the project for a High Tension 150kVA Line from Chania to Damasta. The Technical Chamber (TEE) has addressed a letter to the Directorate for the Environment and Territorial Planning of the Decentralised Administration of Crete, which is also being communicated to the Environment ministry, the Regional Authority, the Municipalities of Chania and Rethymnon, the president of the Technical Chamber and the local media.
The letter states: “The Western Crete section of the Technical Chamber would remind [ADMIE] that it submitted, in a timely manner, two alternative scenarios in the context of the project’s technical, environmental and economic footprint but also taking account of the justified major social reactions of citizens, local organisations and municipalities. The scenarios propose laying the cable, either alongside the VOAK or alongside the existing National Road, or the creation of a new dual circuit line beside the existing single-circuit transmission line.” However, the memorandum submitted by ADMIE “is judged to be generalised and theoretical, the impact assessment lacks a methodical approach, while it restates what has already been said in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) without any further documentation in relation to the objections and proposals which were put forward by the TEE for Western Crete and by other scientific sources.”
The letter continues: “The scenarios of an underground or undersea route are dealt with, in our opinion, superficially and in general terms and are judged to be non-viable, even though they constitute two scenarios which are entirely different in their technical and economic characteristics and requirements. In the same context, there is for instance no documented comparative analysis in relation to the reasons which led to the choice of an underground route for the transmission line of around 30 km between Nopigia and Xylokamara [in Chania].
“Finally, it must be emphasised that throughout the entire content of the memorandum and its supporting material, there is a scrupulous avoidance of any documented rebuttal of the basic issue which has been brought to light, which is the expediency of the project in relation to serving the proposed major development of Alternative Energy Sources in Crete. That is to say there is no further comment to suggest that the basic criterion for the choice of the preferred technical solution and route is not the the full and optimal exploitation of the onward transmission capacities of the Alternative Energy Sources which have been or are to be permitted in Crete, and the minimum cost of their connection with the cable project.”
In consequence of the above, the TEE for Western Crete, in the context of its official role and taking account of the importance of the project but also the need to ensure the public interest, “Invites, on the one hand ADMIE to resubmit the memorandum, as it should, providing a documented comparative technical-economic analysis of the alternative scenarios which have been submitted, and on the other hand the responsible Services/Authorities to whom the memorandum has been submitted to respond in similar terms. The time which has been lost during the spurious consultation process, as well as whatever time and financial constraints are involved, should not constitute an excuse for the project to proceed in an undocumented fashion.”
(Haniotika Nea, 11/10/24)
Meeting of the Environmental Committee
A forthcoming milestone in the process of consultation and approval is the meeting of the Regional Authority’s Environmental Committee, which is due to take place in Heraklion on 18th October, and the various bodies engaged in the protests have been marshalling their arguments with a view to attending the session and making their feelings known. As reported by Haniotika Nea on 15th October:
A unanimous “no” to the pylons
Unanimous opposition to ADMIE’s plan for the installation of the high-tension pylons was declared at two separate meetings on 14th October. At a briefing meeting organised by the “Coordinating Initiative of Apokoronas organisations against the high-tension pylons and wind generators”, it was agreed that they would attend the meeting of the Environmental Committee of the Region of Crete on the coming Friday, when the Committee would be discussing its consultatory response to the project, and call for a negative opinion.
There was also a unanimous vote at a combined meeting of the three municipal councils of Chania, Apokoronas and Sfakia, where it was stated: “We are categorically opposed to the plan for high-tension transmission pylons as it creates serious problems for humans, for the environment and for the local economy in the affected areas. We are in favour of the electrical connection which will the ensure energy security and sufficiency of our island but in a different way, that of an underground or undersea connection. Given that these alternative types of connection have not been studied for the project as we had requested, we call on the Environmental Committee of the Region of Crete to take serious account of the present vote and to downvote the Environmental Impact Assessment.”
Speaking at the meeting of the Apokoronas Initiative, the mayors of Chania Panagiotis Simandirakis and Apokoronas Haralambos Koukianakis emphasised their agreement on the issue. Mr Simandirakis stressed that “we are not against the interconnection project, but against the way in which it is going to be carried out”, while Mr Koukianakis invited all citizens to be in Heraklion on Friday, saying “no battle can be won if it is not waged”.
He also noted that the quoted cost of an underground as against an overground cable varies – 1 to 5 according to ADMIE, 1 to 9 according to the Energy minister, while the TEE estimates it at 1 to 3, adding that “the environmental costs cannot be measured”.
“The Municipality of Chania was one of the first to vote against ADMIE’s environmental study, and had roused the Municipality of Apokoronas,” said deputy mayor of Chania Giannis Nikiforakis, and accused ADMIE of “pressuring us to accept the pylons without any scientific documentation. We are fundamentally opposed to that.”
Regional Councillor for the Popular Rally of the Region of Crete Alekos Marinakis said that at its previous meeting the Environmental Committee had voted in favour of the project, but “we had voted against it because we think that the way in which it is being done is unacceptable because it does not take account of either the health of the inhabitants or the environment. It forms part of the rationale of the “green transition”, for the profits of the few at the expense of the many. This we will fight against.”
A representative of the “Sfakia Initiative”, Mr Chiotakis, drew a connection between the pylons and the plans for wind generators on the mountain range of Sfakia, saying that the local community was totally opposed to them. Kostas Gyparis, minority opposition leader on the Apokoronas Council, criticised the attempt by the president of the Environmental Council Nikos Xylouris to prevent a negative vote on the project. “This project is not being carried out for the energy coverage of Crete, but for the profits of big business interests,” he said. The meeting called for a “political solution” to avert ADMIE’s plans for the pylons.
(Haniotika Nea 15/10/24)
Where next?
Since it is clear that ADMIE will not back down from its position and since it is quite likely that the Environmental Committee will vote in favour of the plan despite all the protests, the way ahead for the objectors seems clouded with uncertainty. The vote of the Environmental Committee is but one of a number of consultatory opinions which have been canvassed, and it is not clear that a negative vote would be in any way binding. The most likely scenario in our view is that a political solution would take the form of the Energy ministry overriding all objections and telling ADMIE to go ahead. It is at this point that, as Mr Koukianakis has vowed, the matter will no doubt end up with the Supreme Court.
This kind of dispute is not confined to Greece, and is likely to become more widespread as governments push on with their plans to achieve “carbon neutrality” in the fight against climate change. On 12th October The Telegraph reported on objections to the UK Energy Secretary Ed Milliband’s plans to install hundreds of new electricity pylons across Britain in the government’s pursuit of net zero, with the minister being accused of “pursuing a ‘dogmatic’ pylon agenda, despite evidence that there are viable and cost-effective alternatives”. As in Crete, local residents are pressing the government to consider less intrusive alternatives, such as the laying of cables underground or under the sea.
As with many green initiatives, there is a mismatch between doctrines such as the drive for net zero, which is largely a concept hatched among the urban middle classes – to which politicians generally belong – and the real concerns of the inhabitants of country areas which will suffer most from the expansion of the necessary infrastructure, who see their way of life threatened and their environment degraded in the name of “saving the planet”.