The governor of Sardinia has suspended the construction of hundreds of wind turbines, claiming they will destroy the beauty of the Mediterranean island’s mountain peaks, farmland and sweeping beaches.
Alessandra Todde, president of Sardinia, declared an 18-month moratorium on the construction of wind farms on the island, where applications have been submitted to add 3,000 new turbines to the existing 780.
“Sardinia can finally decide its destiny,” said Todde, who was elected on a left-wing ticket last year.
Todde told The Times that Sardinia planned to take over from the Italian government the power to decide where turbines could be placed on the island. “There will be no more permits given over the heads of Sardinians,” she said.
Sardinian politicians and activists argue wind farms and vast arrays of solar panels installed on farmland to mitigate climate change risk ruining the countryside they are meant to be saving.
“We are not battling against ecological transition,” Todde said, adding that turbines must “be set up in a way that they safeguard the environment”.
Stefano Deliperi, head of activists group Grig, said: “We get climate change, but it’s a question of common sense,” adding that if the applications for new wind farms were approved, Sardinia would have too much electricity.
“Even if they add another undersea cable to the two already taking electricity to mainland Italy, it would not be enough,” he said.
The Italian government, which has been encouraging wind farm construction with incentives, is planning to challenge the moratorium in court, but a spokesman for the island said: “The point is we have become a Wild West for wind turbines.”
He added: “A court challenge could be tricky since Sardinia has a degree of autonomy, but if it takes a year that gives us six months to make new rules on ensuring turbines don’t get set up in sensitive sites like near ancient ruins.”
Cultural sites that risk being ringed with turbines include Barumini, home to 17th-century BC structures known as Nuraghe, and the 12th-century church at Saccargia, where the government overruled objections from its own culture ministry to approve the enlarging of existing turbines.
Michele Zuddas, a lawyer and activist, said: “The beaches of Stintino, which are among the most beautiful in Sardinia, are close to an area hosting turbines.” He said a recent protest meeting in Sardinia which drew 5,000 was a turning point for the movement against turbines on the island.
“Sardinia has 60 per cent of Italy’s military bases and we may have nuclear waste stored here – Sardinia continues to be treated like a colony,” he said.
Fellow activist Maria Grazia Demontis also viewed the protest as a reaction to Rome’s disregard for Sardinia. “Our landscape is who we are, but to Rome we are no more than a power station,” she said.
Italia Nostra, a heritage group, has argued that the excessive installation of wind farms is a nationwide problem and launched a publicity campaign with turbines inserted in the background of the Mona Lisa to make its point.
There are 738 wind farm applications being considered across the country, including one to build 20 turbines at Pitigliano, a picture-postcard town in Tuscany which sits among rolling hills, Etruscan ruins and natural thermal baths.
“It’s one of the most beautiful areas in Italy, where many people have invested in tourism,” an Italia Nostra spokeswoman said. She said another site being considered was Orvieto, which rises on a volcanic outcrop north of Rome.
“There is very little wind in Orvieto so why there? The truth is that Italy is just not that windy and the wind farms often exist due to subsidies,” she said
