It was in January that Holmen Energi submitted a permit application to the county administration to build and operate 26 wind turbines with a maximum height of 300 meters in Robertsfors municipality.
The wind farm is called Högaliden 2 and is planned to be built next to an existing wind farm on Loberget in Umeå municipality.
Some that will be affected if the construction becomes a reality are the Sami villages of Gran, Svaipa, Malå and Ran, and a reindeer husbandry investigation has been carried out.
– There is already an existing one right opposite the planned one and it will stop the entire migration route and the reindeer’s natural migration to the west will be stopped, says Marja Skum, board member of Gran Samiby.
“Hope we can coexist”
The Energy Agency has pointed out that the area is of national interest for wind power and therefore particularly interesting for Holmen.
– We hope and believe that we should be able to coexist and that we should be able to adapt and limit so that it does not have the effect of preventing the industry from continuing. Of course, reindeer husbandry must be able to continue, says Martin Löfstrand, project manager Holmen energy, and continues:
– We want to have that dialogue all the way through so that we can hopefully find a way that this will be good for more than just us who want to work with wind power.
“It will be industrial areas”
Gran Sami village has done a climate analysis on how to use the land in the future because there are other exploitations in the Sami village besides wind power.
– We have to look 30-40 years ahead because we see how our land is decreasing day by day and we have to thoroughly analyze where the reindeer can find pasture. Where is the justice, do we want reindeer husbandry in Sweden in the future or not? Many wind turbines are being built in northern Sweden now and everyone should know that they take up an incredible amount of land and it becomes industrial areas, says Marja Skum.