The Slovenian government decide to refuse to issue permits for the installation of wind turbines at Pohorje and Rogla.
The Slovenian Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning has rejected a request for a construction permit for 35 wind turbines at Pohorje, while the investor has withdrawn its request for 21 turbines in Rogla. The investor can still appeal the decision, as well as submit a new request, local media reported.
Slovenia occupies the second-to-last place on the list of EU members by wind capacity. The bottom place is held by Malta, and above it are Slovenia and Slovakia with 3 MW of installed capacity each, according to data from WindEurope as of the end of 2022.
According to the website of the company Energija na veter, the project entails installing 56 wind turbines in three locations, with a total capacity of 196 MW. More precisely, there are two projects – wind power plant Slovenska Bistrica I (122.5 MW) and wind power plant Slovenska Bistrica II (73.5 MW).
Representatives of a citizens’ association opposing the wind farms claim the fight is not over yet, because the investor can file a fresh request, which, they say, is already happening. They say they are against wind farms because they would greatly affect the environment.
Last year, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning received nine negative opinions or requests for additional documents from institutions that give opinions in the process of issuing a building permit for the planned wind farm at Pohorje.
Slovenia launched procedures for the construction of its first wind farms more than four and a half years ago. In the meantime, it has approved national zoning plans for three projects – Ojstrica, Paški Kozjak, and Rogatec, with a total capacity of 46 MW, whose investor is state-owned power utility Dravske elektrarne Maribor (DEM), and the Dolenja Vas project, developed by Austrian company AAE.
