Problems with Wind-Farms

Irregularity of Energy Supply

Even though Denmark has more wind-turbines per inhabitant than anywhere else in the world (and the highest electicity cost!), they haven't managed to shut down even one fossil-feul generating station in the country. Why? Because the power generated by the wind is irregular and there have been entire months - such as in February 2003 - where no energy at all was produced by them. So the old forms of power production have to kick-in at short notice which can be extremely inefficient.

Disruption of Water Flow

In many cases, to create the foundations for the huge wind-turbines proposed, bedrock has to be excavated, which can interupt the flow of underground water-channels.

No Real CO2 saving after all?

The construction of an industrial wind-generator requires as much energy as the generator produces in 2 years. Add to that the enormous amounts of energy needed to build new ports and roads to enable the huge structures to be transported to and on the island, and thousands of tons of cement imported, trucked and poured for the foundation of each wind-generator. Hundreds of kilometres of new cable and major power-masts are needed to connect them to the closest relay station in the central Peloponnese. Will the proposed industrial wind-stations on Kythera ever produce enough energy to cover what they required to be set up and maintained? Is it worth the visual pollution of two-hundred towers to find out?

Landscape Degredation & Visual Pollution

Wind power stations are no parks. They are industrial and commercial installations. They do not belong in areas of natural beauty. And although many people find them majestic, that is no argument for putting 200 of them on Kythera, just as it would be inappropriate to construct 200 Statue of Liberties (also considered majestic) on the island. And who will clear up the mess when most of them are useless wrecks in 20 years?

To quote the Times of London:
'The Government's thesis that the countryside and upland and coastal Britain is "worth sacrificing to save the planet" is an insult to science, economics and politics. But the greatest insult is to aesthetics. The trouble is that aesthetics has no way of answering back'.

Does it really make sense to tackle one environmental problem by instead creating another? Join The Resistance.

Disruption of Bird Migration Routes

Kythera is an important stop for birds migrating between Europe, Crete and Africa every year. Wind-turbines are known to disturb the flight-paths of many birds and a study is currently being undertaken to determine the extent of the disruption.

No Better Power Supply to Kythera

The idea of peppering Kythera with wind-turbines was made palatable to many by the suggestion that the island's power supply would become more regular: at the moment, if there is a shortage of electricity in the main Greek electricity grid, it is Kythera which is "turned off", being politically insignificant especially in comparison to the regions of the Peloponnese, from which the electricity comes.

The truth is that the electricty from the turbines on the island won't be put into the island's grid, but instead be run back to the mid-Peloponnese to be added to the power of the main grid: Kythera is attached to it but won't be in any special position to benefit from it. And the addition of wind-power to an electrity grid can make it even more unstable because of the irregularities of the wind, so Kythera might end up with an even less stable supply of power.