Bulgaria seeks EC nod to keep wind farms within Natura 2000 eco network

(ADPnews) - Nov 26, 2010 - Bulgaria has no plans to demolish wind farms built in non-compliance with EU regulations on Natura 2000-protected sites, which has made the country approach the Commission on the issue, deputy Environment Minister Evdokia Maneva said on Thursday.

The government will seek to make up for the irregularities by implementing protective measures or adding other sites to the eco network in order to preserve biodiversity, Maneva told the parliamentary economy committee.

The European Commission (EC) has launched two infringement procedures against Bulgaria, one involving the construction of a dozen wind generators in the Kaliakra zone, the other for disregarding the overall impact on the Natura 2000 network of jamming a vast number of investment projects in a certain area.

The discussion in parliament was instigated by the prolonged conflict between eco warriors and renewable energy investors in northeastern Bulgaria, in particular the northern Black Sea Coast.
Since the area is a migration bird corridor, the site will be probably determined as a risk point in the national renewable energy plan by 2020, Nikolay Nedyalkov, head of Natura 2000 department at the Ministry, said. Risk areas will signal future investors that their green power projects may not be granted permission or be thoroughly amended, he added.

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