One of the largest wind power fields in the world will soon be located in the Swedish Sami settlements of East Kikkejaurs in Piteå municipality. Up to a 1000 wind turbines are estimated to produce power for about two million households. Germany-based Svevind is behind the plans.The area is home to Sami reindeer herding communities and the field will occupy as much as one fourth of Kikkejaurs winter pastures.
- In the negotiations we have had so far with Svevind we have only been offered compensation for damages. And that is something we are not pleased with. If we are supposed to be able to live with this project for many decades, we need to know that we will receive a stable yearly compensation that secures the future of our settlement no matter what happens, says reindeer herder Patrik Lundgren to Swedish Newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
Svevind is surprised that a discussion on the future of East Kikkejarus has erupted and the company’s position is that reindeer herding and the wind power industry are parallel activities, explains head of Swedish Svevind office, Mikael Kyrk.
Kyrk agrees to pay compensation for damages but is afraid that an agreement on shares of the profit will result in claims from anyone who feel they are affected by the project. In some other cases of wind power production Sami settlements have been able to get contracts on yearly shares of the profits.
The business organization, Swedish Wind Energy, and the National Union of the Swedish Sami People have together proposed to the Swedish Energy Authority to look at the prospect of developing a code of conduct for energy projects in the Swedish reindeer herding areas. The legally established reindeer herding areas account for 50 percent of the country.
