Date: Friday June 28th

Duration: Full day

Organizers/contact persons: Katrina Rønningen

Title: Wind Energy: Green growth hopes and environmental/ indigenous despair at Fosen

The peninsula of Fosen is just across the Trondheim fjord – you can see it from the conference venue. The ongoing Fosen wind energy development is an interesting case to study dilemmas of renewable energy acceptance, energy impacts, justice and contested futures of renewable energy and of affected groups and interests. It is Europe’s largest wind energy project in a country nearly self-sufficient with ‘clean’ hydropower-based energy. Operational by 2020, it will include six wind farms with a total of 278 wind turbines that will jointly produce 1000 MW. It will be connected by 240 km of roads and infrastructure in a previously pristine coastal and mountainous landscape and has met with strong objections from nature conservation and recreational groups, as well as, the already marginalized group of South Sámi reindeer herders in the region - who have brought the case to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Interestingly, it is the strong local democracy that fought and won to have the wind energy plans developed, and there are high expectations concerning employment, activity and further technology development, including plans for hydrogen development. Wind energy projects in Norway crucially depend on green certificates, the development of European energy policies and cooperation, including undersea cables, as well as economic strategies of investment funds.

On this excursion, we go by bus, crossing the fjord by ferry. We will be visiting one of the wind energy sites and meet with various actors linked to the wind energy development: representatives of the municipality and regional planning unit; the wind energy developers (Fosen Vind/Statkraft); and people from the Action Against Wind Energy Development. We will also visit one of the wind energy plants.

Fosen is a very scenic and varied area (“Norway in miniature”, with coastal areas, small mountains, forests and farmland), and we hope the trip will be interesting also due to the landscape we will be traveling through. We will have lunch at Kuringen Pier Hotel, with possibilities for a swim in the sea. It will be a long day, so we will bring food boxes in addition to the lunch. You are also welcome to bring your own snacks/drinks in addition.

BE AWARE LATE RETURN TO TRONDHEIM: 20.00 / 8 PM, and make sure you have a hotel room for the night, as there are no late connecting international flights, only national.

Night train is an option:

Southbound towards Oslo Friday night: approx. 23.30/11:30 pm

Or Northbound towards Bodø approx. 23.40/ 11:40 pm

https://www.nsb.no/en/frontpage (It is not possible to book more than 90 days earlier than departure, so you will need to look it up).

Time schedule:

(start and end times are fixed, however, we may need some flexibility throughout the day)

08:25 - Bus from hotel. On board: welcome and introduction by Katrina Rønningen, Ruralis

09:00 - Ferry from Flakk to Rørvik (30 minutes)

11:00 - Visit wind energy site together with representative from the developer, Fosen Vind/Statkraft

12.30 - Meeting with Åfjord municipality and Fosen Regional Development Unit

14-15.30 - Lunch at Kuringen Pier Hotel. A dip in the sea?

16.00 - Representative from critics of the Fosen wind energy development

20.00 – Arrival at the hotel

Wear walking shoes and clothes according to the weather.