Windfarms for Attica power
The executive committee of the City of Athens Organization yesterday reviewed state plans for the installation of windfarms in Attica, a year and a half after it had drawn up a report on the negative effects of these installations. The committee did not reach a decision, however, on the conditions governing the installation of about 100 wind generators of up to 100 MW in Keratea, Varnavas, Grammatiko, Kalyvia and Mandra. The sites are in protected hilly areas of Attica, such as the Lavreotiki mountain range, where two of the farms are to be installed (Keratea and Kalyvia). Although wind energy reduces the emission of pollutants (1 KW of energy from a renewable source replaces the combustion of 1.7 kilos of lignite), critics say that the amount of energy that will be produced (33 MW) is a negligible percentage of the total 3,000 MW Athens needs, and does not outweigh the environmental effects of installing the windfarms. Environmental groups say the Lavrion conventional power plant’s output is sufficient to cover Athens’s requirements.
