“The Arctic Nature is Under Enormous Pressure,” Says Conservationist

The Davvi wind farm is set to become Norway's largest wind power development, more than twice the size of the country's current largest facility at Øyfjellet in Vefsn, Northern Norway.

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The project is planned for the Vuonjalrášša mountain plateau in Lebesby municipality in Finnmark, also in the Norwegian Arctic.

However, the plans has sparked considerable controversy.

Environtmental organisations want the project scrapped because of its potentially extensive impact on nature. At the same time, the region is facing growing demand for electricity.

The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) has already rejected the plans twice. Nevertheless, the Norwegian Ministry of Energy has now cleared the way for further consideration of the project.

Where should the line be drawn between the need for more electricity and the protection of vulnerable natural environments?

Reconsideration

In 2025, the Norwegian Parliament amended the Energy Act, granting NVE the authority to reject licence applications without a public consultation or lengthy processing if it considers it unrealistic that a project will be granted a licence.

The amendment was intended to make the licensing process more efficient.

"More efficient licence processing could contribute to faster development of the grid and new renewable energy production," said Minister of Energy Terje Aasland (Labour), in the government's press release on June 26.

In January, NVE invoked the new provision and rejected the licence application for the Davvi wind farm.

"The project will have major, irreversible impacts on Norway's second-largest contiguous area of largely untouched nature. In addition, the area is of great value to Sami culture and traditional use," said NVE's Director of Energy and Licensing, Inga Nordberg, in the press release.

For a licence application to be rejected without first being put out for public consultation, it must be evident that the application would otherwise be rejected.

However, the Ministry of Energy has concluded that this condition was not met and has therefore referred the case back to NVE for further consideration.

"We are sending the case back because we believe there has been a procedural error. When we believe there has been a procedural error, it has to be corrected," the energy minister told NRK in late September.

This means that plans for what would be Norway's by far largest wind farm remain very much alive.

"Will benefit all consumers"

St1 is the majority owner of Grenselandet DA, the company behind the Davvu project application.

In a written response to High North News, St1 communications manager Lillian Aasheim says the wind farm could make an important contribution towards meeting Finnmark's growing demand for electricity.

"Our starting point is that we need more renewable energy to contribute to the future energy mix."

In April, Statnett (the transmission system operator in the Norwegian energy system. Red. note) warned of an impending electricity crisis in Northern Norway. The grid operator announced a temporary suspension of capacity reservations for new large-scale industrial projects north of Svartisen in Nordland.

The decision followed a sharp increase in projected electricity consumption. Statnett estimated that power demand in the region would rise by approximately 60 percent over the next ten years.

"This is one of the worst situations Northern Norway has faced in many decades," Nordkraft executive vice-president Eirik Frantzen told NRK.

According to Aasheim, Davvi could generate up to 3.4 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity at full development. 

"This would benefit all electricity consumers, whether industrial or private."

The wind farm is considered one of the key projects that could help meet the electricity demand associated with the electrification of the gas processing facility at Melkøya, which is estimated to require around 2.6 TWh anually following electrification.

Fears over consequences

"The worst-case scenario is that nature is transformed into an industrial area. We believe the entire project should be scrapped," says Martin Eggen, nature conservation adviser at BirdLife Norway, to High North News.

BirdLife Norway is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to protecting bird species and their habitats. It has recently published satellite tracking data from six snowy owls covering the period from 2011 to 2017.

The tracking data indicate that the Vuonjalrášša mountain area, where the wind farm is planned, is an extremely important area for snowy owls.

The snowy owl is classified as critically endangered species that depends on large, undisturbed natural habitats. BirdLife Norway fears that the Davvi development will threaten the owls' habitat and have serious consequences for the species.

"There are several ways in chich snowy owls could be affected, including habitat fragmentation, collision risks, human activity and increased accessibility. There are many aspects that concern us."

"For the snowy owl, we consider it imperative that no wind farm is built there."

The Ministry of Energy's decision to require further consideration of the project has prompted a strong reaction from Eggen. He believes the ministry is acting contrary to the stated purpose of making the licensing process more efficient.

"They are overturning the decision even though NVE clearly had professional grounds for using the provision allowing for an early rejection. The whole point of the simplification process was to avoid spending excessive time and resources on projects that have no realistic prospect of being approved. The Davvi case has been a long-running battle that we thought we had won," he says, adding:

"Politically, it is completely incomprehensible to do the opposite of what you are trying to achieve."

Growing demand

The developer, however, believes NVE's assessment was inadequate.

"By rejecting the application without a full assessment and public consultation, the decision lacked a transparent framework in which claims could be scrutinised. We therefore believe that the decision was made on an insufficient basis," Aasheim writes.

"Where do you draw the line as to which interventions in nature you believe can be justified?"

"Ultimately, it is not to us to make these assessments or draw that line. We work to develop renewable energy projects. We always look for projects that can generate as much renewable energy as possible while minimising overall negative impacts."

The company believes the debate on wind power is often characterised by principled opposition, with insufficient attention paid to the underlying objective: increasing access to renewable electricity in a society with steadily rising energy demand.

"We would welcome a much broader debate. Rather than focusing on individual projects, we could discuss the bigger picture, taking into account nature conservation, wildlife and reindeer husbandry, while also considering the need for renewable power and reduced greenhouse gas emissions in the context of growing energy demand."

Aasheim does not rule out the possibility that new information about the environmental consequences could affect their assessment of the project.

"If a thorough public consultation process, in which claims must be substantiated and evaluated by experts, uncovers new information that changes the overall balance, we will also reconsider whether Davvi meets the threshold."

Mounting pressure on nature

In addition to Davvi, NVE is set to assess several other wind power projects in Finnmark.

This will require considerable work from BirdLife Norway, which intends to monitor the processes closely to ensure that important natural values are taken into account before the authorities make their decision, Eggen explains.

"Several of the other proposed development areas also contain unique national nature values, including habitats for threatened species and areas with dense bird populations. Finnmark's natural environment is particularly important, with a high proportion of species of national conservation concern. We will need to devote considerable resources to this work in the years ahead."

The aim is to limit development as much as possible and ensure that any wind farms are located in areas where the environmental impacts will be minimised.

Eggen stresses that new energy developments must be considered in the context of the other pressures already affecting the natural environment.

"The Arctic nature is under enormous pressure from climate change, among other factors. The construction of power plants and other infrastructure projects adds to that pressure. It is paradoxical to increase the burden on an already highly threatened natural environment in the name of protecting nature and the cilmate," he concludes.